


BLINK -182

by lossit_bay



Series: Bang Chan's Clan [4]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angst, Found Family, Humour, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Magic, Tiny!Minho, Urban Fantasy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:40:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 52
Words: 70,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22790350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lossit_bay/pseuds/lossit_bay
Summary: Jisung's control over his magic has really improved, he might even go as far as to say he was good at it. And with the unlocking of his core he now had the power to match his skill. But when faced with the oldest unbroken curse in the world, Jisung might have used alittletoo much of that power and not quite enough skill.He's going to fix his mistake though, even if it's the last thing he does, because he can't live in a world without his Minho-hyung.
Relationships: Bang Chan/Kim Woojin, Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin, Hwang Hyunjin/Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Hwang Hyunjin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Kim Seungmin/Yang Jeongin | I.N, Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Series: Bang Chan's Clan [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1400593
Comments: 1500
Kudos: 1084





	1. Melted Bubblegum Ice cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey so I _know_ i still have the other fic going but this has been in my drafts for so long and I have to share this preview so I can get back to finishing the other fic.

“Jisungie?” Seungmin asked, coming into his room. Seungmin was such an oddball that Jisung paused his video. He had no idea what words would come out of Seungmin’s mouth next and he had to be ready.

“Yeah?” Jisung asked. He stayed lying down. You couldn’t fall any further if you were already lying down.

“Do you want to break Minho-hyung’s curse today?”

 _“Today?”_ Jisung asked, very glad he had chosen to say lying down. He was pretty sure his heart just tried to evacuate his body through his ass. He’d felt Minho’s curse plenty of times and the quality of that magic was well above his skill set.

“Yeah,” Seungmin said mildly. “I’m not busy and Hyung finishes work in an hour.” Easy enough for him to say.

“I don’t know what to do,” Jisung pointed out.

“Draw this on Hyung’s chest,” Seungmin said, throwing his phone over. Jisung expected some complicated fae script, maybe flowing letters or intricate patterns. Not a circle. “It means ‘open’."

“A circle? Really?” Jisung asked. “The world’s oldest curse can be defeated by _a circle_?”

“An open circle,” Seungmin specified. “The original curse used a closed circle to lock so we need an open circle to unlock. Also you’ll have to draw it in my blood.”

“This family is fucked up,” Jisung sighed, rolling out of his bed reluctantly and handing Seungmin his phone back. “This isn’t even the first blood ritual I’ve done this week.”

***

Minho was immediately up for it because he had even less self-preservation than Jisung. They didn’t even have a full outline for what they were planning. As Jisung would be performing a counterspell and not an additional spell, he couldn’t rely too heavily on words as they would limit his magic’s function. Normally this was a good thing, reducing the number of explosions he created but in this case it could be like building a door over a doorway filled with concrete. No matter how nice the door it would be useless unless he also got rid of the concrete.

Jisung’s magic knew Minho’s body well. Since this idea had first been proposed he had practiced following the curse in Minho’s bloodstream. He followed it into his head and watched it at work and followed it back to his heart where it apparently came into existence from his soul. That part Jisung was less clear on but Seungmin assured him that was how it worked.

“I would like to state again for the record, that your blood is fucking weird,” Jisung said as Seungmin cut the tip of his finger. A milky, faintly blue liquid beaded at the cut. Felix and Minho bled the same but no matter how many times Felix ran into walls Jisung couldn’t get over the difference.

“ _Your_ blood is fucking weird,” Seungmin retorted, smearing it in the start of a circle on Minho’s chest. It was the closest they could get physically to his soul. He squeezed his finger and continued painting.

Minho stared up at the ceiling and yawned. “Yeah, Sung. Red’s a bit dramatic don’t you think?”

“Red is a great colour,” Jisung argued. “You look like you’ve got melted bubblegum ice cream running through your veins. Nobody likes bubblegum, it’s a gross flavour.”

“Yeji thinks I taste great,” Minho countered and Jisung leant over him in surprise to look Minho in the eyes. “No, she’s not actually bitten me,” Minho rolled his eyes as he preempted Jisung’s question. “She can just smell it when I sweat in class since sweat is the liquid part of blood.”

Jisung blinked at him as that horrifying knowledge settled in his brain. “I’m going to delete that from my memory later.” He wished he could but messing with his own memories was surprisingly difficult.

“Right, idiots,” Seungmin said, stepping away. “My part is done. Sungie, if you push that circle into his soul it should unlock the curse.”

Sure, as easy as that. Jisung placed his hand over the drying mark. He could feel Minho’s heart beating and when he pushed further with his magic he could feel the curse and further still until there was a faint humming of Minho’s life force.

“I’m going to start now, Hyungie,” Jisung said, not really hearing himself speak.

Minho replied but Jisung couldn’t hear that either. He could feel the vibrations of the words under his fingertips and strangely the hum of his soul changed slightly too. Jisung didn’t know how but he knew it was Minho trusting him. He closed his eyes and focused on that hum, pushing his magic towards it.

It was working, far faster than he expected. He could feel the curse dissolving as he pushed his magic into it. He was nearly there.

“Jisung!” Seungmin said. “Stop! Terra, STOP!”

Jisung held back his magic, and the spell burned at his fingertips, wanting to be completed. With dread already building, Jisung opened his eyes and found a much smaller body in front of him than had been there before.The boy looked about five years old with long dark hair and a button nose. Jisung’s hand now covered most of the boy’s chest, Minho’s half-open shirt covering the rest of his body and Minho’s shoes and jeans now empty.

“Minho-hyung?” he whispered to the tiny boy with his face screwed up in pain. Despite his discomfort, the boy wasn’t making a sound. That was such a typical Minho action Jisung wanted to cry.

“Did it work?” Minho asked hopefully, opening his eyes. He then immediately frowned. “Why is my voice like that?”

Jisung reached forward to help Minho sit up and button up the shirt that was slipping off his shoulders. He was so small and fragile. Jisung was afraid he would squeeze him too hard and break something.

“Jisungie?” Minho asked, looking up at him in confusion. “Why am I small?”

“I’m sorry, Hyung,” Jisung said. _Should he even be calling him Hyung anymore?_ “I think I took away your.. age? Instead of the curse. What can you remember?” _God please don’t let him have fucked that up too._

“I am Minho. I am an elf. I like cats, and dancing, and Jisungie. I live with Jisungie and Seungminnie and Hyunjinnie and Innie and Lixie and Changbinnie and Woojinnie-hyung and Channie-hyung.” Minho said proudly. It seemed his memory was fine but perhaps his processing ability had regressed with his body.

“Do you remember what we were doing today, Minho-hyung?” Seungmin asked gently. He was hovering by the end of the bed and seemed to be freaking a lot less than Jisung was. Jisung hoped Seungmin could take the lead now since the mix of magic and losing his hyung was really messing with his emotional stability.

“Making me hear better so I can go on an adventure with Seungminnie,” Minho said with a grin. He was just too cute. Adult Minho was too busy being a tsundere to show joy quite so openly and Jisung liked the assurance that they weren’t really dragging Minho along on the all chaos like he sometimes complained.

“Can I test your hearing then?” Seungmin asked. Minho nodded. “ _Dogs are better than cats.”_ Seungmin said in slow, careful fae.

Minho frowned. “You said bugalubglubbubah.”

“I don’t think Jisungie made your hearing better, I’m sorry,” Seungmin said.

“Can you try again, Jisungie?” Minho asked, wrapping his fist around one of Jisung’s fingers and pulling. “If you’re not too tired.”

“I don’t want to do that right now,” Jisung said, picking Minho up and hugging him tightly. He was so small, so light in his arms but he was still here. _What would have happened if Seungmin hadn’t stopped him? Would he have completely erased Minho from existence?_ Sometimes his magic terrified him and right now was one of those times.

“We have to make you big again first, ok?” Jisung whispered into Minho’s hair. He still smelled like Minho and Jisung clung tighter to him, letting the smell of Minho’s coconut shampoo calm him.

Minho wriggled out of his arms and crossly tried to push his sleeves up. His shirt slid off one shoulder again and he waved the sleeve in frustration. Jisung knelt down to help him with the slippery material and with a lot of rolling Minho’s hands finally poked out the ends of the sleeves. “Are you making me big again now?”

“Um, not right now,” Jisung said, startled by how similar Minho’s expressions were on this chubby little face. “Soon. I need to make sure I’ll get it right.” _I need to make sure I don’t kill you._

“Ok,” Minho said cheerfully. “I’m going to make toast.” And with that he waddled towards the kitchen.

Jisung exchanged a horrified look with Seungmin and they ran after him.

“Minho you can’t make toast,” Jisung told him, scooping the young boy up by his waist with ease.

“Yes I can,” Minho replied haughtily, wriggling. “I’m very good at making toast.”

Jisung knelt down so Minho wasn’t in danger of falling from his inexperience grip and caged him in with his arms. Minho grunted as he tried to break free but he didn’t have the strength.

“But you can’t reach the stove anymore,” Seungmin pointed out. “And the pan will be too heavy.”

“Well, _you_ can’t make me toast,” Minho said. He had a point there. Both Seungmin and Jisung were terrible at cooking.

“I’ll go get Channie-hyung,” Seungmin offered. “He can make you toast.”

“Channie-hyung is not very good,” Minho said. “His eggs are blurgh.” Jisung had to agree.

“Ok, I’ll make the egg part and Channie-hyung can make the rest, ok?” Seungmin offered.

“Fine,” Minho allowed. “My toast is better though.”

Seungmin left with a wide-eyed panic look to Jisung and then Jisung was alone with tiny Minho. Tiny Minho had escaped and was trying and failing to get up onto one of the bar chairs.

“Do you want help?” Jisung asked, already hovering behind him.

“ _No,_ ” Minho replied. “I can get on a chair.”

“It’s quite a tall chair though,” Jisung pointed out. He had to hold the chair upright as Minho hauled himself up it. “And you’re quite small.”

“Who’s fault is that?” Minho said with a grunt as he finally got his chest onto the seat. His feet still dangled as he panted for breath. Jisung gave him a boost.

“Mine,” Jisung admitted. “But don’t talk back to me when I’m helping you.”

Minho finally plopped down on the seat. “I’m older than you,” he said. “You have to call me Hyung.”

“You’re like five, Minho,” Jisung pointed out. “That makes me fourteen years older so I’m definitely your hyung now.”

“No,” Minho drawled. “I have been alive for a hundred and…and... For a lot of years more than you so I’m Hyung.”

“But now you’re five.” Jisung was going to win this argument.

“I _look_ five,” Minho said crossly. “But I _am_ older. You’re not an adult.”

“I’m nearly an adult,” Jisung scoffed. “I’m more of an adult than you.”

“I see it’s going well, Sungie,” Chan mocked him, appearing in the doorway.

“It’s going amazingly, Hyung,” Jisung said with a sarcastic smile. “I love causing major body alterations to my loved ones. Really spices up my week.”

“At least he’s not a chicken,” Chan offered. He then came into the room and scooped Minho up to rest him on his hip. “Someone told me you wanted toast.”

“I do want toast,” Minho said. “Put me down.”

“No.” Chan booped him on the nose. “You’re cute,” Chan grinned and started getting out the pan and ingredients with one hand.

“I’m a hundred years old!” Minho roared, arching his back to get free.

“One hundred and eighty seven,” Chan corrected him, not bothered in the slightest by the writhing child in his arms. He lined up the ingredients by the chopping board. “But I’m not letting you wander about while I’ve got knives and fire and that stool is too high for you. Either you go sit at the dinner table or you go with Sungie. What will it be?”

Minho made one last attempt to get free but Chan was a vampire and knew how to hold a child down. Minho gave up, panting. “I want Jisungie,” he admitted grumpily.

“Good choice,” Chan said, handing him over. Jisung didn’t really know how to hold a child properly but he was sure this wasn’t it. Minho was heavy and was sliding from his grasp. “Put him on your hip, Sung,” Chan instructed.

 _Where?_ Jisung had hips but they certainly didn’t stick out enough for somebody to sit on. He hoisted Minho up a bit further and leant back so at least some of Minho’s weight wasn’t on his arms. Minho locked his arms around Jisung’s neck to stop himself falling.

“You’re rubbish at this,” he told Jisung.

“I’m _trying,_ ” Jisung wailed. “I didn’t have little cousins, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“Clearly.” Minho let go and slid to the ground. “Crouch down. I want to go on your shoulders.”

“Not in the kitchen!” Chan called, kicking Minho lightly out of the kitchen with a foot under his butt. “Why did you guys have to do this when Woojin was gone?”

“It was Seungminnie’s idea,” Jisung said, lifting Minho up onto the table so the boy could climb onto his shoulders like he wanted to. Minho clung to his hair and giggled to himself as he directed Jisung with little tugs. Chan glanced up at them as Jisung game back to stand at his side and smiled softly.

“Are you going to make sure Jisungie and Seungminnie behave for me then, Minnie?”

“Yes!” Minho crowed, tugging on Jisung’s hair.

Jisung groaned. Tiny Minho was proving in a short period of time to be significantly more taxing than adult Minho and he was going to need back up to get through this.

“Min, ow,” he said. Risking taking one hand off of Minho’s ankles to untangle his hands from his hair. Minho only put his hands over (in) Jisung’s mouth to muffle his complaints.

“Fixed him, Channie-hyung!” Minho said proudly. “Look, Channie-hyung. Fixed him!”

“An excellent job, Minho-sshi,” Chan nodded seriously. “What do you want on your toast?”

“Cheeeese!,” Minho said. “And ham and egg. But not your egg. Seungminnie’s egg.”

“Is my egg not good enough?” Chan grumbled, heating up the pan.

“No!” Minho giggled and then tugged on Jisung’s hair again. “Turn around Sungie, we gotta find Seungminnie!”

“Watch your head on the doorframes, Min!” Chan called after them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ???? yes???? (and yes that insta video was 100% behind the making of this)
> 
> So originally the next fic in this series was Hyunjin's origin so I need votes by the end of _There were nine in the bed_ whether you want this next or Hyunjin. Both are coming but which can you wait for? I feel like for balance it should be Hyunjin cos Minsung has had a fic already but also TINY MINHO
> 
> also kudos to anybody that can work out the meaning behind the title


	2. You don't need shoes to dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So BLINK -182 won by a landslide.
> 
> its kinda funny cos the preview was cute and uh,, its not actually that fluffy for a while
> 
> enjoy?

Jisung felt a sense of superiority that even with both Chan and Seungmin cooking for Minho, the boy still preferred him. He had demanded that Jisung sat next to him while they ate (Chan made Jisung toast too) and Jisung _had_ to go with him downstairs to surprise Hyunjin and Changbin. Seungmin and Chan also came with them but Jisung wasn’t given the choice.

Minho still didn’t have clothes that fitted him but he seemed happy enough changed into one of Jisung’s t-shirts. The hem came down past his knees and Jisung held the boy’s hand tightly as they made their way down the stairs, envisioning Minho tripping in his improvised dress and tumbling to the bottom. Minho was completely fine though Jisung’s heart was in his mouth and he ran off once they reached the bottom of the stairs and Jisung heard a scream as Minho ambushed their poor brothers.

Hyunjin was on the floor panting in the middle of the shop when Jisung pushed past the curtain. Minho was standing over him cackling.

“Min, no,” Chan sighed. “Hyunjinnie has to look human when he’s downstairs.”

As Jisung watched, Hyunjin’s tentacles morphed back to legs and he pulled his shoes back on. Thankfully his sweatpants had accommodated the change in form and were still in one piece.

“Where’d you find the kid,” Hyunjin said shakily as Seungmin helped him to his feet again.

“Felix scared the shit out of him a couple months ago and broke his ankle,” Jisung replied. He ruffled Minho’s hair as the boy ran back to him, still giggling.

Changbin frowned at him suspiciously. _“Minho-hyung?”_

“Yes?” Minho replied eagerly, smiling up at him with anticipation.

“No fucking way,” Hyunjin said, coming closer and crouching down to examine Minho. “Sung how the fuck did you manage that?”

“Why would it be my fault?” Jisung said crossly as Minho clung to his leg, half hiding from Hyunjin.

“Do you want a list?” Hyunjin replied sassily.

“Ok, fine.” Jisung admitted. “It was my fault. I took away his age instead of the curse.”

“I feel like that’s probably harder to do,” Changbin pointed out.

That didn’t make Jisung feel any better. In fact, it just made him scared of his magic more. It had been so _easy_ and he hadn’t even been trying.

“Do you know how to get him back?” Changbin asked,

“Not yet,” Jisung admitted. “I’ll have to ask Mina-noona if she knows anybody else that’s managed it.”

“Mina-noona?” Minho said excitedly. “Can we go now? I want to dance!”

“That’s definitely, Minho-hyung,” Hyunjin smirked as Minho bounced around Jisung. “How are you going to dance without shoes on, Minho?” he asked the boy.

“You don’t need _shoes_ to dance,” Minho said snidely. “Watch!”

Minho got into position in front of them all and quickly started a choreography Jisung didn’t recognise. Perhaps from one of his dance classes. He stopped after a few moves and furrowed his eyebrows, repeating the move.

“Maybe I _do_ need shoes,” he whispered to himself.

“You’re smaller now,” Chan said gently. “The muscle memories you have won’t work properly right now.”

The edges of Minho’s lips turned down. “But I want to dance,” he said brokenly.

“You can still dance,” Hyunjin said quickly, kneeling next to Minho. “Why don’t we make up a new choreography? You can teach me, ok?”

Thankfully, Hyunjin’s suggestion curbed the approaching meltdown and Minho began the very serious task of bossing the boy about. Jisung could still see Minho getting frustrated but when that happened Hyunjin would purposely do a move with a little too much flair and Minho would come over to try and contain his limbs. It was very funny to watch.

“Do you have any idea of what you’re going to do?” Changbin asked Jisung quietly.

“None,” Jisung said dejectedly. “And I don’t want to just mess about with his soul to get something to work. What if I reverse him further or corrupt his memories or something?”

“Are you just going to leave him as a child then?” Changbin asked. “And wait for him to grow up again? How long does it take a fae kid to grow up?” He aimed that last question towards Seungmin who was standing with them.

Seungmin shrugged. “We don’t use time in A'Choille but I think it’s slower than humans. Humans age very quickly.”

“So, what- 50 years? 100 years?”

Jisung had only been alive less than 20. He couldn’t imagine waiting that long for the Minho he knew to be back. And he wouldn’t be back at all because he would have re-lived a childhood all over again in entirely different circumstances. Jisung would have aged too by that time. He would still look young thanks to his magic but would he be the same person by that point? Would Minho still like who he was?

“50 years, maybe?” Seungmin said. “We’d need to ask an elf.”

“I’m not waiting 50 years,” Jisung decided. He tried not to think about how much of that decision was selfishness. “I’ll find a way to re-age him.”

“Sungie, this customer is looking for a spell,” Chan called him over. Jisung hadn’t even noticed someone entering the shop.

“What kind of spell?” he asked the man timidly.

“My persimmon tree isn’t fruiting and it’s been two years,” the man said. “I was hoping for something to get it to fruit again. It’s still got plenty of leaves so it’s not sick and I’ve tried human fertilisers but they’re not working.”

“Uhh,” Jisung hesitated. A spell like that should be easy. After all, it was a fruit tree, it already wanted to make fruit. Yet. “I specialise in emotional magic,” Jisung told the man with an apologetic smile. “Maybe a fae could come talk to your tree?”

The man frowned but didn’t seem against it. “I suppose.”

“Minnie!” Jisung called. Both Minho and Seungmin looked up. “Seungminnie,” he clarified. Minho ran over anyway with Seungmin following more sedately.

“Seungminnie, do you think you could talk to this man’s tree to get it to bear fruit again?” Chan asked. “I can take you.”

“I can probably get it to flower,” Seungmin said. “You might have to self-fertilise it though if there are no bees around you and then once your fruits have started to grow I could come and ask it to grow them bigger?” Seungmin offered. Jisung left them to the details and turned to Minho who was clinging to his leg again.

“Hiya Min. Are you done dancing?” he asked the boy.

“I don’t want to. I’m bad at dancing now.” Minho grumbled. “When can I be big again?” he asked, holding up his arms to be picked up. Surely he knew from last time that Jisung didn’t have the skillset to do that. He didn’t have the skillset to re-age Minho either but he couldn’t tell him that.

“I think you’re very good at dancing,” Jisung told him. “ _Way_ better than Jinnie.” He crouched at let Minho wrap his skinny arms around his neck before he stood up again. With his hands clasped under Minho’s butt he could hold him up ok and their eyes were nearly level.

“That’s because you don’t know how to dance,” Minho said. _Ouch._ “When are you going to make me big?”

“Minho..” Jisung stared into his big brown eyes. Why did Minho have to trust him _so much?_ He’d only let him down. “I don’t know how to make you big again. And- and I’m scared I’ll hurt you if I try. Do you mind being small for a little bit longer until I work it out?”

Minho stared at him for what felt like forever before leaning forward and kissing Jisung on the lips. It was sloppy and not at all pleasant. “Ok, Sungie,” he said seriously. “I will be small for you.”

Jisung’s heart raced and he caught Chan smirking at him over Minho’s shoulder.

“Watch you don’t blow out the lights, _Sungie,_ ” Chan told him sassily with no regard for the fact that Jisung, his favourite child, was drowning in emotions right in front of him.

Jisung gave a strangled noise in response. The lights seriously in peril right now but so was the cash register and Chan should be at least a little more concerned about that. Minho must have sensed his panic somehow because he leant forward and put his head on Jisung shoulder.

“Don’t exploded things, Sungie,” Minho whispered into his neck. “You can make my blood go.”

That was what Jisung normally did when his emotions got out of control. Before he unlocked his core he would punch Hyunjin to calm down after he unlocked his core he started freezing Minho’s heart and pumping his blood manually. It wasn’t a very sensible practice but the combination of it being dangerous and requiring a very fine level of control helped to focus his mind better than anything else he’d tried. Minho had been the one to suggest it after Jisung had spent so long observing his curse but now that Minho was a child Jisung felt the danger was too great.

“I’m not going to do that, Min,” Jisung said tensely. “I can get it under control.”

Truthfully, the thought of touching Minho with his magic again just made him feel sick. How many more times would Minho let him hurt him before there wasn’t a Minho left for a next time?

“Channie-hyung, can you take him?” Jisung choked out, holding Minho away from him. He ignored Minho’s look of hurt as Chan’s smile dropped and he rushed forward to take Minho.

“Are you good, Sung?” Chan asked loudly from a few steps away, alerting everyone to his embarrassing situation.

“Uhh,” was all Jisung could say in response. His magic was burning under his skin, looking for a release and it was only a matter of time before he wouldn’t be able to contain it.

“9-14?” Hyunjin asked. It was their code for _Jisung’s a little bitch and he’s about to set fire to everything you know and love_. Hyunjin needed to learn to read the room. Obviously this was a 9-14.

Minho squirmed in Chan’s arms. “I can _help_ ,” he yelled, pulling uselessly at Chan’s grip.

“Not today, Minnie,” Chan said sadly. “Sung, I don’t know how to help you.”

Now everyone was gathered behind Chan, ready to evacuate. Seungmin had even turned off the cash machine at the wall though that wouldn’t save it if Jisung’s magic got loose. Distance was about the only thing that reduced the chance of getting hit with it which is why everyone knew not to touch him when this happened, no matter how distressed he looked.

Only Minho would risk touching him and dispelling the magic. Minho who was drowning in Jisung’s t-shirt, the hand shaped burns on his ankles just visible under the hem. It was all his fault. Him and his horrible magic.

“Jisung,” Chan called out. His eyes must have lit up because he could feel the cash machine frying. “What do you want me to do?”

“Knock me out,” Jisung said through gritted teeth, holding the magic as close to his body as possible. He wouldn’t be able to restrain it this time.

Thankfully, Chan was a man of his word and a man of action. Jisung didn’t see him move but the fight was suddenly blissfully gone.


	3. Problems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter I guess sets the scene a bit better of where everyone is, physically and emotionally (yikes)
> 
> I'm not tooo happy with how it went but I'm posting anyway

When Jisung came to he was lying in the middle of Chan and Woojin's bed, completely alone. His head was pounding but the light was thankfully off and only a faint glow from the corridor lit the room . He could fix his headache himself but Chan knew him too well and had left him painkillers and a glass of water. If he could lock off his magic right now he would. Woojin had once mentioned a friend that had managed it and Jisung was beginning to see the appeal.

He sat up, took the painkillers and got out of bed. Chan was going to want to talk to him and he'd be better just getting it over with. He tried the shop front first but only found Changbin and Hyunjin.

"Hey, Sung," Changbin said. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a vampire punched me in the face," Jisung grumbled, walking straight into Hyunjin's side. Hyunjin wrapped his arms around him as predicted. He pressed his face into Hyunjin’s shoulder to block out the light but it did little to lessen his headache.

"I meant emotionally," Changbin pressed. It wasn't fair that his emotions were unmissable with the explosions they created and everyone else got to hide theirs behind fake smiles.

"Oh yeah, I want to cry," Jisung said lightly. "I nearly killed Minho-hyung _again_ and I'll have to use magic on him another time to get him back. Also, if I think about it too much, everything explodes."

"I'm going to get you some chocolate milk," Changbin decided. "Keep hugging Jinnie."

"How are you, Jinnie?" Jisung asked, not lifting his head from Hyunjin's shoulder. Hyunjin gave good hugs and he didn't try and fix Jisung like Chan or Woojin would.

"My problems are nowhere near as bad as yours," Hyunjin protested.

"Exactly," Jisung said. "Tell me about your stupid problems. Innie and Minnie, right?"

"Yeah," Hyunjin grumbled. "It's my fault but I don't know what to do. Normally I would just hug them, you know? Just whenever. Or kinda almost kiss them on their cheek or something. But I feel weird doing that now because they like me and I don't want to lead them on or anything. And they like _each other_ so really I should just leave them alone so they can properly date instead of trying to include me as a friend. And with Innie gone this last week it's been really fucking awkward with Minnie and I don't know what to do."

Jisung patted his back consolingly. Anyone with eyes could see that the trio had been falling further apart over the last couple of weeks. Not only was Hyunjin isolating himself but Seungmin and Jeongin had reverted to friendly acquaintances to avoid hurting their mutual crush with displays of affection. Overall, they were a complete mess.

"Why don't you try talking to Minnie while Innie is away," Jisung suggested. Jeongin had left with Woojin the week before on a trip to the forest to get his wolf form but Jisung guessed it was also an escape for the young shifter. "I'm sure he's just as confused as you are."

Hyunjin made a noise in the back of his throat that could be mistaken for agreement. "Let's stop talking about my problems now."

"You can't avoid him forever," Jisung pointed out.

"Is this about InMinJin?" Changbin asked, returning with a glass of chocolate milk for Jisung. "I told Lix not to meddle and now he's not even here to see how badly it worked out."

Changbin was more on edge than usual recently with Felix away. Felix's back muscles had weakened to the point he couldn't fold back his wings without assistance and so he'd moved forward his supply trip home and extended it until his wing muscles were stronger. He had been gone before Jisung even knew that Hyunjin was involved in the love confessions.

Now Jisung had unlocked his core he could skinsing to check up on Felix. For the first two weeks it had gone well and Felix was always overjoyed to hear from them. They didn't have long as Jisung still struggled to hold the connection so they didn't waste time with family drama. Instead Felix would give his location if Seungmin was there to understand it, an update on what supplies he'd acquired, and progress report on how his wings were doing. Unfortunately, time was moving slower in the Fae Realm so Felix hadn't built up nearly enough strength yet and unless there was a shift in the time relativity he would be there a while yet.

Skinsinging was hard work so Jisung had to limit his magic use on the days he was going to try it but he was getting faster at it every time. Two day prior was the last time he'd tried but for some reason it hadn't worked. Chan had suggested that Felix was likely just through the skin elsewhere in the human world as he often did to get supplies but it had done little to sooth Changbin's worry. Jisung knew he should really try again soon but he didn't even want to think about his core magic right now, let alone use it.

"I'm sure Lix is fine," Hyunjin comforted Changbin. "You know he goes back to Australia sometimes."

"I still wish Seungminnie went with him," Changbin said petulantly kicking at the floor.

"Me too," Hyunjin said, for an entirely different reason. _Wow. Weren't they all depressing._

"Not helpful, Hyunjinnie," Jisung reminded him. "You've got to talk to him."

"Bet," Hyunjin replied moodily. A customer entered the ship and Hyunjin rushed to help him and avoid further interrogation.

"Have you spoken to Seungmin about it?" Jisung asked Changbin.

Changbin shook his head. "I think he was speaking to Minho-Hyung."

"Shit."

"Mmm."

"I've really got to fix that." Jisung scrubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. Why did everything have to rely on him? Normal-Minho gave Jisung more emotions than he knew what to do with and Tiny-Minho brought out even more, predominantly fear. Jisung didn't think he'd ever be ready to face that.

"I've watched you do hundreds of things that shouldn't be possible, Sung," Changbin said. "You can do this."

"I can also kill him," Jisung replied and _oh god it was so much worse when he said it out loud_. "I'm gonna spew," he told Changbin, trying not to breathe.

Changbin spun him around which did not help but it did mean the vomit landed on the floor and not the cash register. Changbin rubbed his back and helped him sit down. His head hurt and his abs hurt and his stomach was still flipping even though there was nothing left for him to throw up.

"Take it easy, Jisungie," Changbin said, pushing his sweaty hair off his forehead. "We're going to help you, ok. Do you want to go lie back down?"

It took Jisung far too long to shake his head. _Was this a panic attack?_ Everything far away and amplified at the same time and he couldn't even tell if his magic was activated which should worry him but he couldn't work out how to worry.

"I've shut the shop," Hyunjin's voice said from above him. "Is he ok?"

 _"Me?"_ Jisung thought. _What the hell was ok?_

"I think he's going to pass out," Changbin's voice replied, coming through a fog. _Yeah, that sounded about right._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jisung is straight-up not having a good time. tbh i think the only one having a good time rn is jeongin but you'll have to wait to find out what he's been up to


	4. Mmm, elf hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright that was enough. Chan to the rescue

The second time Jisung awoke he was again in Chan's bed except this time Chan was also there, typing away on his laptop next to him.

"Stay lying down, Sung," Chan said before Jisung had done more than blink. "You've had enough excitement for today."

"Wasn't exciting," Jisung croaked and Chan passed him a nozzle-top water bottle and helped him up halfway to take a sip. Jisung's vision whited out with the movement so he heeded Chan's advice and lay back down.

"Ok, maybe excitement wasn’t the right word," Chan said. "But nobody is injured and Minho is completely fine."

"He's _five_ ," Jisung exclaimed. _In what universe was that fine?_

"I have been told repeatedly that he is in fact 'a hundred and a lot'", Chan replied, smiling at the memory. "He's pretty cute even if he is driving Seungminnie up the wall."

"I need to age him back." Jisung frowned. He had no idea how to even attempt that. Taking away was much easier than adding and he wasn't even aware what he was doing when he managed that.

"No rush," Chan said, ruffling his hair. "A month or even a year as a five year old isn't going to make much difference in Minho's lifetime and he wouldn't want you to get so worked up over it."

Jisung stared up at the ceiling. Chan was right, of course. One year was nothing to immortality. It wasn't even 1% of the years Minho had lived so far even though it was a significant part of the years Jisung had experienced. His control of his magic had improved exponentially over the last year and now he had his core unlocked he wasn't limited to tiny spells. His control would likely greatly improve in the next year too. Maybe 20-year-old Jisung would laugh at how easy this spell was just as current Jisung found it incredible that he had ever struggled with a sunlight charm.

"Ok," Jisung said, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off his chest. "I can definitely do it in a year."

Chan grinned. "There's my Jisungie back. I don't like seeing you upset."

"I don't like being upset," Jisung said. "Things explode."

"Only recently," Chan said. "You'll get the hang of it. Now, do you mind a visit from Minho? He's not taking his ban from being your magical protector very well."

Jisung closed his eyes and thought. For his own health he should really say no but he wasn't very good at saying no to Minho and he felt he owed Minho more than a life-debt from all he had put him through. The least he could do was lie in bed and talk to him.

"Sure," Jisung allowed.

Chan made a call to Seungmin and less than a minute later there was the patter of tiny feet down the corridor. Jisung hoped Seungmin had helped him down the stairs.

"Sungie!" Minho crowed as he practically fell through the door. Jisung winced. His voice was very high-pitched. "Does your head hurt?" Minho continued at a loud whisper.

"Quite a lot, yep," Jisung replied shortly.

"Channie-hyung hit you very hard," Minho stated. "And you fell very fast. You should have just made my blood go."

"I'm not doing that anymore," Jisung replied as Minho wormed his way under the blanket and rested his head on Jisung's chest.

"Why?"

"Because you've only got a little body so there's not enough blood," Jisung lied.

"Oh," Minho said. "So when I'm big again you're going to make my blood go again?"

"Sure." Jisung stroked his silky hair but Minho wouldn't lie still.

"When are you making me big again?" Minho asked digging his tiny knee into Jisung's groin as he sat up. Jisung muffled a scream.

"Not for a while, Min," Chan said, rescuing Jisung physically and verbally as he tugged Minho onto the mattress again. "It's a really hard spell so Jisungie will need to study and practice a lot before he tries on you, ok?"

"But what if he gets worried again and he can't make my blood go?" Minho asked in distress. Even with his own life at risk he was more concerned about Jisung. "You can't hit his head again. It really hurt."

"He can hit my head again," Jisung said. "It's better than me being dangerous."

Minho frowned and launched himself at Jisung's chest, stabbing him in the solar plexus with his chin. He wrapped his arms around as much of Jisung's torso as he could and squeezed.

"No," Minho said firmly. "I'm going to find a better way." He said it with such conviction Jisung had no choice but to believe him.

"Ok, Min," he said, closing his eyes again. "Thank you."

Minho did not stay still very long and within a few minutes Jisung felt a light touch on his left cheek.

"What ya doing, Min?" he asked without opening his eyes.

"Your cheeks eats my finger," Minho said in awe, pressing harder. Jisung felt the inside of his cheek touch his teeth and opened his jaw slightly to remove the resistance so Minho finger fell further into his mouth. Minho screamed and then giggled.

"Again!" This time he was pressing both of Jisung's cheeks. Jisung kept his jaw locked a little longer this time until Minho was nearly frustrated before opening it suddenly. He bit back down gently, holding his cheek and Minho's fingers between his teeth.

"No!" Minho cried happily, pulling his hands back. "You can't eat my fingers!"

"Yes I can," Jisung replied, opening his eyes to locate Minho's hand. He put the hand to his lips and mimed eating it. "Mmm, elf hands, my favourite."

"No! Bad witch!" Minho slapped his chest harmlessly. "Channie-hyungie, eat Sungie!"

"Eat Sungie?" Chan asked as if he was considering it, glancing up from his laptop. "Hmm, no he's too fizzy. You'll need to get Woojinnie-hyung to eat him for you."

"But Woojinnie-hyung is ages away," Minho sighed. "And when he comes home he'll just want to eat chicken."

Chan laughed. "You're not wrong. I guess nobody is going to eat Sungie then."

"Urgh!" Minho flopped dramatically onto Jisung's chest. Jisung took that as a prime opportunity to tickle him.

***

"Are you tired, Min?" Chan asked as Minho muffled his fifth yawn.

"No," Minho said stubbornly. "I am a hundred and a lot! I don't need a bedtime."

"I need a bedtime," Jisung muttered. His head felt a lot better now but there was an underlying fatigue that he couldn't shake, not even after lazing in bed all evening. Logically, removing 182 years of age must take a lot of magic but Jisung had never come close to the limit of his core magic before. Maybe the addition of two panic attacks had done it.

"Have dinner first," Chan told him. "And you can sleep down here if you want tonight." He was offering to guard Jisung while he slept.

"No thanks, Edward Cullen," Jisung scoffed.

"I'd be Carlisle and you know it," Chan retorted. It was slightly disturbing how accurate that was.

"But you're married to a werewolf," Jisung exclaimed. "The scandal!"

"Not married," Chan corrected gently. "But yeah, the Volturi would probably put an immediate kill order on me if this was Twilight and I started dating Jinnie."

"The Who?" Jisung asked.

"The Volturi. The most powerful vampire coven," Chan said.

"Wait. You actually _read_ Twilight?" Jisung asked, horrified.

"What's Twilight?" Minho asked.

"A terrible book," Jisung replied shortly, patting his head.

"It was research," Chan claimed. "Everyone was getting obsessed with vampires. I had to make sure none of it lined up too closely with the truth."

"And the Council didn't have that information?" Jisung asked doubtfully.

"They did," Chan said. "But I'd stopped trusting Council propaganda by then so I had to do everything by myself."

"Suuure," Jisung said. "Do you think I could do a spell to make you sparkle?"

"Do not." Chan stared him down, no longer smiling. It would be scary if Jisung didn't know that Chan was a whole lot more intimidating when he was really mad.

"Sparkle sparkle," Minho said, tapping his fingers along Chan's arm. "Sparkles would look pretty."

"I may be convinced to wear glitter," Chan grudgingly allowed.

"Oh _hell_ yeah," Jisung crowed. He crawled over to get a better view of Chan's laptop. "Go on Amazon right now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see cute!
> 
> I hope my description of the cheek poking made sense
> 
> also, unfortunately i have had to add the twilight wiki to my fic research sources


	5. Bedtime is for losers

"We're going to make Channie-hyung sparkly," Minho told Hyunjin proudly as he brushed his teeth. What he actually said was 'wa ga'auuu ahiuh aeeeee!'

"Yeah," Hyunjin agreed sarcastically. Jisung spit out his toothpaste and gestured for Minho to do the same while the tap was running. Minho was too short to reach by himself and mad about it so if Jisung didn't help he'd climb up the toilet to do it himself.

"Channie-hyung let us buy glitter to put on his face," Jisung told Hyunjin. "So he can be a sparkly vampire like from Twilight."

Hyunjin looked at him blankly so Jisung pulled out his phone and typed in the appropriate search string to get the gif he was looking for.

"It was a popular book a few years ago," Jisung explained.

"People think vampires are glittery?" Hyunjin asked. Jisung shrugged.

"Most people think vampires aren't real. I certainly didn't think they were even after I met Hyung. I thought he just did a lot of cardio." Hyunjin raised an eyebrow and Jisung gave him a shove. "Quit judging me!"

"No!" Hyunjin whined mockingly. "Now get out so I can take a shit."

"Channie-hyung!!! Hyunjinnie swore!" Minho yelled gleefully, running off to find the vampire. He was taking his role as a five year old very seriously.

"I don't give a shit!" Chan replied from the dining room. "Can you all go to bed already so I can get some peace to do the expenses."

"Bedtime is for losers!" Minho said to him, grinning around the doorframe, and then he ran off to his room.

"Dibs not It," Jisung muttered. It was pointless- Minho clung to him so he was It regardless.

"Get out," Hyunjin repeated and pushed Jisung out of the bathroom, firmly shutting the door behind him.

_Jisungie!!_ " Minho called loudly. "Turn out my light!"

"Please," Jisung said pointly but went to do his bidding. Minho had his duvet pulled up to his chin and his phone was lighting up his face in a blue glow. His tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth as he typed something.

"What you doing, Min?" Jisung asked wearily.

"Twitter," Minho replied shortly. "I want to see the cats."

"I think you should sleep," Jisung suggested. _He_ wanted sleep.

"Bedtime is for losers," Minho repeated. "I'll sleep once I've watched the cats." There were billions of cat videos online and Jisung knew from experience of sharing a bed with adult Minho that he'd only stop watching and go to sleep if he had dance class in the morning.

"You can't watch all the cats," Jisung said because he knew how this would end up. Tiny Minho hadn't shown a single sign of rational thought all day and cats were Minho's weakness. He'd be up all night. "Sleep now and you can watch them tomorrow."

"I can watch them now and tomorrow," Minho replied, eyes glued to his screen. "I don't have work tomorrow."

"You need to sleep, Minho." Jisung was losing his patience. "I know you know that. And I _really_ want to sleep but I can't until you do."

Minho scowled. "Ten minutes," he bargained.

"Five." Jisung propped himself against the doorframe and rested his eyes. His head still hurt but it was more of a background ache now. He hoped sleep would solve it. And when he was asleep he didn't have to worry about his magic getting loose. Constantly checking on his control all afternoon had been tiring too.

"Go to bed, Sung," Chan said gently, nudging him to alertness again. "You're falling asleep standing up." Jisung blinked and checked the time on his phone. Minho had had 15 minutes.

"But I gotta-" Jisung started, gesturing at the child.

"I'm the dad around here," Chan replied. "You've done good today, Sung. My turn now.”

"By all means," Jisung said, turning to leave. He ignored the part of his brain that was jealous Chan was taking over now. It's not like he asked for babysitting duty and Chan was practically vibrating with eagerness.

Minho let it a tiny whine as he noticed Jisung leaving. Jisung turned back to see a very conflicted look on his face. He waited.

"Hug." Minho said eventually. It wasn't a question or a request or even a demand.

Jisung waited.

"Hug me goodnight," Minho said determinedly, having finally worked through his thoughts. Jisung was at his bedside in a single stride- it was a tiny room- and leaned down, Minho's hands clasping at the back of his neck. Jisung slipped one hand under his shoulders and squeezed him tight. His tiny fragile Hyung.

"See you in the morning Min," Jisung said as he pulled away, breaking Minho's grip on his neck easily. Maybe in the morning Minho would be back to normal.

"Sleep lots, Sungie," Minho told him seriously.

"Will do," Jisung saluted him. That was an order he could follow.

He fell unceremoniously onto his unmade duvet with a groan. Pyjamas was too much work so he just wriggled out of his jeans and called it a day.

"How's Minho?" Changbin asked, looking up from his phone.

"Same as before but bossier," Jisung replied. "You can look after him tomorrow."

"He seemed pretty independent at dinner," Changbin said. That was the only time Changbin had really spent with him.

"That's the problem," Jisung managed to lean off of enough of his duvet to tug it over himself. Changbin liked the Aircon far too high. "Minho _thinks_ he can still do everything and he will find a way unless you stop him. He's nearly died like ten times today, not including when my magic was involved."

"He's cute though," Changbin said.

"That's another problem," Jisung started, intending on ranting until it was all off his chest but the words never made it out of his brain.

"Sleep well, Sungie," Changbin whispered and the room turned dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a pov switch to hyunjin which urgh! i enjoyed writing very much


	6. When it rains at night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello, i have a monster chapter of seungjin for you

Hyunjin put his earphones in the second he heard that unmistakable sound of rain in his window. It didn't help because he still knew that it was raining and not hearing it meant he wouldn't hear if it got heavier.

"It's just rain," Hyunjin told himself in the dark. "You're in a bit strong house and the rain is going to land on the roof and go into the gutters and drain away. Because you're in a house and houses are warm and dry and safe."

Logic didn't work on irrational fears though.

Jeongin used to climb into his bed when it was raining. He would act extra grumpy to distract Hyunjin and make a show of how little he cared that it was raining. Somehow that always made Hyunjin relax and he could fall asleep if he was holding Jeongin.

Jeongin wasn't here this time though. He was out in the forest, probably grumpy because the rain was getting him wet. Or maybe he was under cover, curled up into Woojin's thick fur. That would be nice, Hyunjin would be able to sleep if that was him.

He tried to imagine it instead of his current situation but Wolf was not something you can easily trick your brain into imagining. There was a specific smell and the fur was thicker than anything Hyunjin could emulate with a stuffed toy. And then there was the massive presence whenever wolf Woojin was in the room. Hyunjin was sure it would be terrifying if it was another wolf but with Woojin it was like a weighted blanket, a solid comforting presence that could only mean safety.

He could still hear the rain. That was a lot of water if he multiplied what he could hear on his window by the plot of the house. He had to stop thinking like this. Maybe he should go to Chan? His new bedroom didn't have any windows and Chan would let him cuddle. He screwed up his eyes and weighed out his fear against the movement he'd have to make. The fear was heavier.

He moved as quietly as possible so as not to wake anybody else up. Out his room, straight across to the dining room, left turn down the stairs, right turn at the bottom, past the therapy room and to Chan's door. Hyunjin opened it carefully. Chan would have heard him if he was awake but it was best not to disturb his work.

Chan was sound asleep, laptop half open on the bed next to him. Hyunjin shut it properly and set it on the desk. Hyunjin couldn't hear the rain in here which should have been a good thing but the absence made him more anxious. He needed comfort but there was no way he was going to wake Chan up now just so he can tell him stupid things like 'the rain isn't going to come inside the house'. Hyunjin already knew that. Leaky roofs were a sign of structural disintegrity and Changbin would never allow that in their house. With one last glance at Chan's relaxed sleeping face, Hyunjin turned and left to trudge back up the stairs. He threw himself back into bed and muffled the urge to scream. He was just going to be awake until the rain stopped then.

Hyunjin's door creaked every so slightly as it opened.

"Hyunjinnie?" Seungmin asked softly. "Would you like me to sleep in here?"

"I'm ok," Hyunjin said. He could handle it.

"You're not," Seungmin replied, stepping into the room properly but staying by the door. "Why didn't you stay with Hyung?" He must have woken up when Hyunjin went downstairs. Whoops.

"He was already asleep," Hyunjin said. "I didn't want to wake him up over nothing."

"It's not nothing," Seungmin said firmly. "It's a trauma response and we all want to help you with it any way we can. What does Innie normally do?" he asked, serious about not leaving.

"I can handle it, Seungmin," Hyunjin said, ignoring the voice that told him he was being rude. "You don't have to help because you feel sorry for me."

"Ok," Seungmin said and there was such determination in that single word that Hyunjin sat up to see him properly. Seungmin was barely more than a silhouette in the faint light from the streetlight that shone through Hyunjin’s thin blinds but Hyunjin could see that light turn to fire in his eyes.

“I’m not doing this out of pity.” Seungmin said. “I’m doing this because the fae are selfish and I am the most devious fae this side of the skin. I’m using your moment of weakness to take whatever I want from my crush.”

 _Oh. They were talking about this now? Now?_ Hyunjin couldn’t focus on that. It was too much.

“You’re not selfish, Minnie,” he said instead.

“I _am,_ ” Seungmin replied. “All fae are selfish.”

“You give me your answers to the maths homework,” Hyunjin pointed out.

“Ulterior motives,” Seungmin said haughtily. “I like it when you smile at me.” Hyunjin ignored the way his heart flipped at that.

“You give up your seat on the bus for old people,” Hyunjin tried.

“If they fall over the bus will be late.”

“That time you ran after a lady when she dropped her credit card.”

“The shop had cameras. I didn’t want to be a suspect for theft when she reported it.”

Hyunjin was never going to win against Seungmin like this. Seungmin might not be selfish but he could certainly argue. It was time to play dirty.

“You stopped bothering Innie.”

Suengmin froze. “So did you.”

“I asked first.”

“It wasn’t a question,” Seungmin was stalling.

“ _Seungminnie_.” Hyunjin had to know now he’d brought it up.

“We didn’t want you to feel awkward,” Seungmin sighed.

“Too late,” Hyunjin muttered. He hadn’t thought that their friendship could ever end so suddenly but it had and not a single interaction felt natural anymore.

“I’m sorry,” Seungmin whispered, talking to the floor. “I’d take it all back if I could. I was so scared I’d lose my friends if you both didn’t like me back. In reality, it was worse than that. You don’t like me back and I lost you and Innie does like me back and I lost him too.”

“You don’t need to lose Innie,” Hyunjin said. “You guys should date.” The words were bitter in his mouth. He didn't want to be the one left behind.

Seungmin crossed the room to sit on Jeongin’s bed and picked up a stuffed toy from the end of the bed, poking out its eyes. “Doesn’t work,” Seungmin said. “We’re both missing you.”

“I can’t-” Hyunjin didn’t know what to say. ‘ _I can’t love you?’_ That wasn’t right. He did love them. So much that it hurt to sit all the way across the room from Seungmin instead of having him in his arms. _‘I can’t make you happy?’_ Maybe that was it. If he kissed them, maybe it would make them happy. He’d thought about kissing them before. Not in a serious way, just like when they used to cuddle and Jeongin’s mouth was right there. Or when he got really excited and hugging Seungmin didn’t seem like it was enough to release all his emotions. Is that what they wanted? To kiss him at times like that?

“Minnie, since you came here to be selfish- what do you want?” he asked bravely. If Seungmin wanted to kiss him, maybe he'd let him.

“I wanted to distract you from the rain.” Seungmin smiled. “It’s stopped now, you can go to sleep.” Hyunjin hadn’t thought about the rain since Seungmin stepped into the room but Seungmin was right- it had stopped. “I’ll go now,” Seungmin said, setting the toy bear back down carefully.

“No!-” Hyunjin cut himself off as Seungmin stood up. “Sleep in Innie’s bed?” Hyunjin said, hearing the pleading whining in his own voice but refusing to be embarrassed about it. “In case the rain starts again.”

Seungmin studied him in the dark but pulled back Jeongin’s duvet and lay down. He breathed in deeply as his head hit the pillow and pulled the duvet tightly around himself. It must smell like Jeongin. Hyunjin hadn’t been weak enough yet to lie down and check. He didn’t deserve a fake hug from Jeongin when he wasn’t brave enough to ask for one when Jeongin was here.

“What does Innie normally do?” Seungmin asked again. “When it rains at night.”

Hyunjin pulled his own duvet up to his chin. “He comes and sleeps in my bed,” Hyunjin admitted. “Lets me be the little spoon.”

“Neither of you are spoons and you are taller than him,” Seungmin said.

“It’s a saying, Seungminnie,” Hyunjin said exasperatedly. Seungmin definitely knew what it meant.

“You are spaghetti,” Seungmin continued and Hyunjin couldn’t help but giggle. “Innie is.. kimchi.”

“You’re just saying that because you like kimchi,” Hyunjin argued.

“ _Everyone_ likes kimchi, Jinnie,” Seungmin said. “That’s the point.” It was a good comparison when Hyunjin thought about it that way. Sour and spicy but impossible to go a day without. That was Jeongin. Especially now he was a moody teenager.

“Do you think he’s ok?” Hyunjin asked quietly.

“He’s with Woojinnie-hyung, he’ll be fine.”

“But wolves have packs and there’s only one Woojinnie-hyung.”

“Don’t think about it, Jinnie,” Seungmin said firmly.

“Too late,” Hyunjin squeaked, the possibilities painting themselves across his mind. “What if they get ambushe?. What if Hyung is tired after a shift and can’t defend them? What if-”

“ _For fucks sake_.” Seungmin leapt out of bed and jumped on top of Hyunjin, smothering him. “The words ‘what if’ are banned. Innie is completely fine. He’s probably having the time of his life running about the forest destroying things.”

Seungmin then seemed to suddenly realise what position he was in and scrambled to the other end of the bed.

“What happened to taking what you wanted?” Hyunjin asked him, feeling bold now most of the weird tension between them was broken. Seungmin’s eyes flicked down to Hyunjin’s lips before he jerked and looked pointedly across the room.

“I don’t want anything,” Seungmin said.

“Liar.”

“I don’t!”

“Seungminnie.” Hyunjin waited until Seungmin looked back at him and then licked his lip seductively. Seungmin kicked him. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Don’t mess with me like that, Hyunjin,” Seungmin said bitterly, going back to Jeongin’s bed and facing the wall.

“I wasn’t messing with you,” Hyunjin blurted out. Seungmin kept facing the wall. “I do kind of want to kiss you. Sometimes. But not all the time! I don’t know why..” he trailed off.

“If this a problem specific to me or is it with everyone?” Seungmin asked the wall loftily. Hyunjin didn’t have an answer. He didn’t _keep track_ of this kind of thing.

“You,” he ran through his happy memories, picking out the times he’d held back from inching just a little closer. “Innie too. Maybe Binnie-hyung?”

 _“Changbin-hyung?_ ” Seungmin whipped back around. “You like _Changbin-hyung?”_

 _“No!_ I don’t like anybody!” Hyunjin corrected venomously. This was getting way out of hand. “I just want to kiss some people sometimes.”

“That’s what liking people is, dumbass,” Seungmin said exasperatedly. _It was?_

“But in dramas-” Hyunjin protested. Seungmin shut him up the same way he had before, crossing the room in a single bound.

“Dramas are _dramatic_ , Hyunjin,” Seungmin said sitting on his stomach, one hand on Hyunjin’s mouth and the other pressing his shoulder into the bed. “Real life isn’t like that. In real life sometimes your best friend hugs you and you realise it's warm in a way nobody else can match. Or they pout and you kind of want to share saliva with them and you can’t find a reason why. That’s what romantic love is like.”

Hyunjin pulled Seungmin’s hand off his mouth and interlaced their fingers. Seungmin’s hand was warm and there was a damp patch in the middle of his palm where he had been touching Hyunjin’s lips.

“But what if it's only sometimes?” Hyunjin whispered. Staring up at Seungmin in the near-dark he thought that ‘sometimes’ was about to get a whole lot more common.

“You mean sometimes you’d rather talk to me or watch tv together or do homework?” They’d given up all pretense that this wasn't about them now.

“I never want to do homework,” Hyunjin butted in.

“I know,” Seungmin said. “I have to force you.”

“I deliberately don’t do it on time so that you’ll pay attention to me,” Hyunjin admitted. “You get all serious and focused and I- oh. I have a crush on you,” he said in a small voice, telling Seungmin in the exact same second he told himself.

“Congratulations,” Seungmin smiled shyly down at him. “You’re officially the last person to notice.”

“Kiss me?” Hyunjin asked, tugging Seungmin down by his hand. His other hand steadied Seungmin’s waist as he leaned forward. Their noses touched first.

“Have you done this before?” Seungmin asked. Hyunjin shook his head the smallest amount, too busy staring up at the boy that was everything he could see. “You’re a fast learner,” Seungmin said, sneaking the smallest peck on Hyunjin’s lips. “Just follow my lead.”

Hyunjin wasn’t following _anything_. He was barely registering everything that Seungmin was doing let alone processing it. Any response he did make was purely on instinct.

“Are you alright there?” Seungmin asked, pulling away and sitting up. His hands rested on Hyunjin’s chest and it was making his heart go wild. Or maybe his heart had already gone wild, it was hard to tell.

“Does everyone’s mouth taste that good?” Hyunjin slurred. His lips felt like they were vibrating.

“Statistically, no,” Seungmin replied. “Also, according to humans, other humans taste better if they have opposing immune systems. But I’m not human so I don’t know if that applies here. If it did, it would stand to reason that we are better matched as our upbringing and ancestry are entirely different.”

“I think you’re just good at kissing,” Hyunjin said, still in awe. “Really good at kissing. Have you kissed a lot of people?”

“Not a lot,” Seungmin said, running a finger down Hyunjin’s sternum. “Felix has kissed more.”

“Have you kissed _Felix?_ ” Hyunjin asked, gripping Seungmin’s hips. Seungmin looked away. “You have! Was he better than me?”

“Felix had more skill,” Seungmin started and Hyunjin tried to turn away in a huff but Seungmin was sitting on his hips. “Hey, Jinnie. Jinnie, look at me, you idiot.” Seungmin cupped his face and kissed him softly. Hyunjin melted into the mattress.“I kissed Felix because we were bored and wanted to prove who was better. I kissed you because I’ve wanted to for over a year and finally you feel the same. Even if you mostly lay there and did nothing, I still preferred kissing you.”

“I can do better,” Hyunjin vowed. He didn’t want to be the lazy partner that took the other person for granted. Seungmin deserved more, so much more, for everything Hyunjin had put him through in the last few weeks.

“Tomorrow,” Seungmin said. “It’s 3am. I just want to sleep now.”

“Sleep with me?” Hyunjin asked. He didn’t want to let Seungmin go. Ever.

“Of course, spaghetti boy.” Seungmin got under the duvet, making Hyunjin realise suddenly that he’d been out the blankets this whole time. Hyunjin pulled him closer, getting Seungmin to throw a leg over his own. He ran a hand up and down Seungmin’s arm and tried to get rid of the goosebumps.

“Are you cozy?” he asked. Seungmin nuzzled into his chest and hummed happily.

“Very cozy,” he answered sleepily. “Don’t constrict me with your spaghetti legs.”

“No promises.” Hyunjin pressed a kiss to the crown of Seungmin's head and tried to relax as he breathed out. He had one friend back in his arms and now he just had to pray Jeongin would get home safely so he could make that two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope that was at least mildly accurate in terms of attraction. im ace so family bonds are way easier to write but i do want to make inminjin a thing
> 
> I COMPLETELY FORGOT TO MENTION THAT THE WONDERFUL LullabyForACat12 MADE _FANART_ FOR THIS FIC!!!!
> 
> EVERYONE GO LOOK https://www.instagram.com/p/B9krZRupvGyg9lvto4FT78NTh1aLhLrQE00Yrs0/?igshid=1j55yok5dn0ww


	7. I like messy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think anybody was curious as to why Jisung's hair is blue but maybe now you will be
> 
> also, someone once mentioned that inminjin were the least ooc... i think ive definitely fucked that up with seungmin now but hey, its fun to have him as the uh, advanced, one of the trio.
> 
> sorry this is so much dialogue im just trying to get to the juicy bits

Jisung was rudely awoken by a tiny body throwing itself onto him. Well, that answered the question as to whether Minho had magically reverted to an adult overnight.

"WAKE UP, SUNGIE!"

"Fuck oooooff," Jisung groaned, trying to pull his duvet over his head. Minho clung tight and started bouncing on his back. "Hyung, _please_ ," Jisung tried. The honorific had no effect.

"Channie-hyung said I had to wake you up," Minho said gleefully.

"Did he now." Jisung turned his face into his pillow. He was going to push Chan down the stairs.

"Yeah! You and Binnie!" Minho dug his bony knees into Jisung's ribs. "You're opening the shop."

"Go wake Bin-hyung then," Jisung said.

"No-!" Changbin croaked before Minho launched himself across the room. "Uuuuhh, Min why?"

“Channie-hyung said!”

“I’m pretty sure Channie-hyung didn’t tell you to break our spines,” Changbin grumbled, tipping Minho off onto the floor, “and yet here we are.”

“It was fun!” Minho crowed from the floor with no remorse.

“I have a great idea, Min,” Jisung said, cuddling back under his duvet. “Why don’t you go see if you can use your new terrorising powers to wake up Jinnie.”

“Ok!” Minho raced out of the room.

“You’re a genius, Han Jisung,” Changbin mumbled, throwing a shoe at the door to shut it behind Minho.

“I know,” Jisung said smugly. They had an extra half hour of peace now.

***

“Sungiesungiesungie!”

That did not feel like half an hour.

“What?” he growled.

“Minnie is in Jinnie’s bed,” Minho said breathlessly.

“Where’s Jinnie then?” Jisung asked. It was beyond rare for Hyunjin to be voluntarily awake in the morning.

“Also in Jinnie’s bed,” Minho said excitedly. It took Jisung a minute to have enough parts of his brain online to connect the dots.

“ _They made up? When?_ ”

“I dunno,” Minho said. “Can i still wake them up?”

“Ye- no, wait,” Jisung sat up and scrubbed the sleep from his eyes. He threw his pillow at Changbin. “Oi, Hyung. MinJin are sleeping together.”

“But they’re still at school?” Changbin said sleepily.

“Huh?” Jisung didn’t follow until suddenly he did. “Ew, no! _Sleeping_ , Hyung. _Actually sleeping.”_

“Lucky them,” Changbin mumbled and burrowed back into his duvet.

“Can I go wake them up?” Minho repeated excitedly.

“Gimme a minute,” Jisung said, searching the pockets of his jeans for his phone. “I wanna film it.”

Seungmin was already awake and sitting up in bed by the time they went through.

“Don’t jump on him, Minho,” Seungmin said seriously as Minho took an energetic step. “It rained last night, he’s not had much sleep.”

Minho’s excitement dimmed and he walked quietly up to Hyunjin’s sleeping face to poke him in the cheek. Hyunjin was dead to the world.

“That explains why you’re here,” Jisung said. “Is this a rain amnesty or have you guys made up?”

“We made ou-up. We made up,” Seungmin said. He pushed Hyunjin’s long hair back from his face fondly. “He’s an idiot.”

“Idiot,” Minho echoed happily.

“Well, since I’m up and you’re up, can you come be on the shop with me?” Jisung asked Seungmin. _Technically_ , Minho could work too since he did still have the knowledge of where everything was and their uses and prices, but Jisung suspected Minho would be more of a liability than anything.

Seungmin pulled up his sleep shirt to show a tentacle wrapped around his waist. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said a little too gleefully.

“Convenient,” Jisung said, narrowing his eyes.

“Good job, Min!” Chan said when Minho came into the kitchen with Jisung. “Where’s the other one?”

“No ‘Good morning, Jisung. Did you sleep well, Jisung? How are you feeling, Jisung?’” Jisung grumbled, taking a bowl. “But sure, praise Minho for causing bodily harm to multiple people at eight in the morning.”

“Good morning, Jisung. Did you sleep well, Jisung? How are you feeling, Jisung?” Chan said patronisingly while squishing his cheeks.

“I slept great,” Jisung said, pushing Chan off of him. “I think my magic might be drained though. It’s not as..” He couldn’t think of a way to describe the mellow feeling.

“Fizzy?” Chan suggested.

“Yeah, not as fizzy,” Jisung agreed. “Do you think my hair will go brown again?”

Chan peered at Jisung’s roots. “I doubt it. You’ve still got some magic, right?”

Jisung grunted in response. He was probably still more powerful than pre-core Jisung, it just felt odd not to have all that magic bubbling inside him.

“I’m kind of sick of blue hair though.” he said. “Can I try bleaching it again?”

“Sure,” Chan said. He couldn’t exactly lecture anybody on bleaching their hair. His was as dead as he was.

***

  
“What colour do you think I should try?” Jisung asked Minho as they lounged in the empty shop.

He had a tab open on his laptop to search for aging spells but his heart wasn’t in it. Most the results coming up were about immortality- halting aging. It seemed to be an easier feat that what he had managed and nobody had a suggestion about advancing aging or resetting a natural age which is what he wanted to do. He opened another tab for celebrity styles. Grey hair seemed to be popular but that was a little too close to blue. Jisung wanted a _change_.

“Orange!” Minho said excitedly. “Like Lixie!”

That could be fun. They might even have some of Felix’s leftover dye in the bathroom somewhere.

“Green,” Seungmin said, sneaking up behind them. Jisung and Minho both flinched. “Let’s be honest, it’s just going to go back to blue again. If you can’t stop the blue leaking in right now, you’re not going to stop it with bleach.”

“I might be able to,” Jisung replied snarkily. “Sorry not everyone can change their hair colour as fast as your boyfriend.”

“Who?” Seungmin asked too quickly.

“Innie,” Jisung said slowly, suspicious of Seungmin’s behaviour. There was something off about him today. Jisung had put it down to sleepiness earlier but Seungmin was definitely awake now.

“We’re not dating,” Seungmin said.

“Oh? You’re just friends that kiss sometimes?” Jisung asked.

“Yeah. I’ve kissed Innie _twice_ and there wasn’t even tongue.” That was almost a solid argument. It had been pretty innocent the one time Jisung accidently saw them kiss in the kitchen. More of a sudden attack with Seungmin’s mouth during a tickle fight than an actual kiss.

“Why can’t we be friends that kiss sometimes?” Jisung asked in mock offence. “I thought we were close?”

Seungmin shrugged. “You seem like a messy kisser. Not my style.”

“I like messy,” Minho piped up from Jisung’s lap.

“Shut up,” Seungmin told him dismissively. “You’re five.”

“I’m-

  
“One hundred and a lot,” Seungmin and Jisung droned monotonously in time with Minho’s outburst.

“Don’t talk about being promiscuous when you look like that, Hyung,” Seungmin told Minho. “It’s really weird.”

“I’ve had sex _many times_ ,” Minho said proudly in his high pitched child’s voice. Seungmin recoiled.

“Sungie, wipe my brain,” Seungmin requested, lifting Jisung’s hand to press it to his forehead. Jisung pulled it back.

“No. If I have to remember that, so do you.”


	8. Accidents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I brought in K.A.R.D bc im getting into them recently and BM seems like the nicest man ever. I love his BTG. I don't know KARD well so their personalities might be a bit off, but they're not major characters i dont think

“Hey, is Chris around?” a tall, tanned young man asked as he entered the shop. His accent was strange as if it hadn’t quite decided where it was going to be from. Behind him, another man and two woman entered and dispersed around the shop. One girl made an immediate bee-line for the hooped earring display Hyunjin had set up the week before. He’d be happy to hear that- he was trialling new product positions.

“Chris?” Jisung echoed, standing in case he had to be helpful.

“Yeah, I heard he ran the chicken magic shop by the river now. This is it, right?” The man took half a step back out the door to go peer up at their sign.

Jisung laughed and waved him back inside. “Yeah, this is probably it. We’re lucky you didn’t try next door- they’re non-mystics and they’ve probably had enough memory wipes for a lifetime already. Is Chris by any chance a vampire: curly hair, hates blood?”

“That’s him!” The guy smiled widely. “I’m glad he’s still around.”

“He goes by Chan now,” Jisung informed him. “I can go get him. What name do you want me to give him, Sir?”

“Tell him it’s Big Matthew.”

“Big Mathew,” Jisung repeated the strange English. “Ok. Min, can you stay here a minute while I get Channie-hyung?” Jisung addressed Minho who was going through a calm period as he watched videos on his phone. He hadn’t risked disturbing him until now since he could get so much more work done but with Seungmin on the phone with a customer in the back room he couldn’t risk Minho suddenly looking up and panicking in a room full of strangers.

“I can watch him,” Matthew offered.

“I don’t need watching,” Minho said icily, looking up from his phone. “I’m a hundred and a lot.” Matthew turned to Jisung in confusion.

“He’s 187 years old,” Jisung said. “I de-aged him yesterday. Accidently.”

“Right,” Matthew said, looking at Jisung with new appreciation. “You must be a witch then.”

“Unfortunately.” Jisung sighed. Magic felt like more of a curse than a blessing right now. He couldn’t even dye his hair the colour he wanted. “I’ll go get Channie-hyung.”

“Big Matthew is here?” Jisung announced hesitantly when he found Chan hanging out laundry.

“Big -?” Chan tilted his head in confusion, before gasping. “BM!!” He was gone in the blink of an eye. Jisung followed him downstairs at a more sedate pace to see Chan and the man hugging like old friends. Maybe they were.

“Where have you been?” Chan asked excitedly, looking very short next to Matthew/BM.

“South America,” Matthew/BM replied. “That’s where it’s at, man. Great food, great music, great _beaches_.” He gave Chan finger guns at that. Maybe he was an _old_ old friend if he knew about Chan’s affinity to beaches from Australia. “Nice place you got here though. When d’you finally leave the council?”

“Ah, just a couple years back,” Chan replied. “When I got this one.” He reached out an arm and pulled Jisung into his side.

“I’m not your child,” Jisung told him.

“Yes you are,” Chan said, nearly strangling him with love.

“Is the little one yours too then?” Matthew/BM asked, nodding in Minho’s direction.

“Yeah, the latest addition,” Chan said. “He’s going through some stuff,” he added vaguely. “Technically, he’s the eldest.”

“Uh huh,” Matthew/BM said. “Of how many?” _Oh, this guy definitely knew Chan. He was giving him the ‘stop adopting people’ look._

“Seven?” Chan turned to Jisung. “It _is_ seven, right?”

“And Woojinnie-hyung,” Jisung reminded him.

“Yeah, and Jinnie. Obviously. He better come home soon,” he added with a sigh.

“His boyfriend,” Jisung stage-whispered to Matthew/BM.

“Ah! Nice one, Chris.” Matthew clapped Chan on the shoulder. “You needed a partner.”

“You have no idea,” Jisung said, doing his best to look horror-stricken. Chan smacked the back of his head.

“Go help BM’s friends,” he said dismissively.

The shorter woman seemed to be engrossed in the earring cabinet and the other man had gone over to look as well so Jisung just returned to the table. There was no point in him attempting to be helpful there.

“Min, can you go find Binnie for me, please?” Jisung asked nicely. It would be better if the customers spoke to Changbin if they made a purchase, especially if their friend knew Chan. Jisung would definitely give them the wrong info.

“I’m busy,” Minho said.

“You're watching cat videos.” Jisung glanced at the screen. “You’re watching _the same_ cat video on repeat.”

“Busy.”

“Min.”

“Sungie.”

“Minho.”

“Jisung.”

“You should be more polite to your hyung,” the taller woman told Minho, wandering over from perusing the shelves. She had an elegance about her, from the way her hair was neatly tied back at the nape of her neck to the cut of her high-waisted trousers, everything subtly colour-coordinated. Jisung would bet she was older than she looked- no person he knew in their twenties was as well put-together as that. He himself was wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt that drowned his frame and Chan, despite his years, had yet to discover colours.

“Minho is older,” Jisung told her grudgingly before Minho could start his rant. “I accidentally de-aged him yesterday.”

“Accidentally?” the woman asked in amazement, pulling the strap of her designer bag further onto her shoulder. “How?”

“If I knew that, ma’am, I’d age him back.”

“I’m Somin,” the woman said. “I might be your Noona.”

“You are, Noona,” Jisung said confidently. “I was born 2000.”

“And you managed a de-aging spell?” Somin asked.

“By accident!”

“That’s even more impressive,” she said. “People would pay an awful lot for that skill.”

“It’s not a good skill,” Jisung said hurriedly. “I nearly killed Minho-hyung. He was 187 and he got to 5 before Seungmin managed to stop me.”

“What was it you were trying to do again?” Somin asked lightly.

“Break the First Curse,” Jisung mumbled.

“Sorry, I thought you just said ‘break the First Curse,’” Somin laughed.

Jisung mumbled in response and looked at the floor. Yeah, he knew now that he wasn’t good enough a witch to manage that. He didn’t need strangers rubbing it in.

“You’re _nineteen_ ,” Somin stared at him like he was some sort of zoo exhibition when she realised he was serious. “How are you so powerful?”

“He’s an emotional magic witch,” Minho said, still watching his phone. “And a teenager. It’s a pretty powerful combination. He worked out how to skinsing the day after he unlocked his core.”

“Was that last week?” Somin joked.

“Two months ago,” Jisung admitted.

“ _Dios mio_ ,” she muttered. “Matthew! Or BM. _Jinseok?_ What am I supposed to be calling you now?” Jisung also wanted to know that answer.

“Whatever you want, Minnie,” Matthew/BM/Jinseok?? replied with a grin as he and Chan joined their conversation.

“Seriously,” Somin said. “Are you going with a Korean name this time?”

“I like BM,” BM said. “Sounds cool, right Chris?” He was a fool trusting Chan’s opinion.

“This time, maybe,” Chan said, scooping up Minho against his will. “But a hundred years ago it was just strange."

“Ok, _BM_ ,” Somin said exasperatedly. “Jisung here tried to break the First Curse.”

“Really?” BM asked. “That’s impossible, man. Minnie’s friend has been attempting that for hundreds of years.”

“That’s not the point." Somin said impatiently. "It’s what he did manage to do _instead_. He de-aged his friend. _By accident_. Do you have any idea how impossible _that_ is?” Somin said. “Witches have been trying that way longer than The Curse has been around.”

Jisung was not enjoying being talked about like he wasn’t there. He was also not enjoying how hopeless his hunt for a cure was sounded. Surely, in the world population of witches someone had managed de-aging before. Jisung wasn’t even using a spell when he did it!

“Have you told the council about him?” BM asked Chan seriously. _What was there to tell? Yeah, his magic was unstable but all young witches were unpredictable._

“No, and they’re not finding out,” Chan replied, just as serious. “Don’t even tell your friends about this, ok. I don’t want rumours getting back.”

“Yeah, of course, man,” BM said as Somin nodded earnestly. “Family secret.”

“Why am I a secret, Channie-hyung?” Jisung asked warily.

“It’s nothing, Sungie,” Chan said, pulling him into a side-hug and patting his hair. Minho reached out from Chan's other arm and poked at the frown between Jisung's eyebrows. “Just, like Somin-noona said, nobody has successfully de-aged someone before so the council would likely want to recruit you." Chan said casually as if Jisung didn't know exactly what 'recruitment' meant. "It’s best we don’t encourage a visit.”

“Would they take me away if I’m unstable?” Jisung asked. It had never been a concern before, no matter how many explosions he made. Chan still had contacts on the inside and as long as Chan promised to clean up after him Jisung had been free to attempt whatever he wanted.

“No, I wouldn’t let them do that,” Chan assured him. He was good at lying. Somin wasn’t and her face said it all. If they had a reason to want him, he’d be taken.

“Somin-noona, has anybody successfully aged someone?” he asked instead of thinking about that, since she seemed to be an expert on the subject.

“Lots of times,” she told him. _Finally, some fucking good news._ “But all of them were accidents.” _Or… not._ “Witches tend not to try and age people deliberately but I can help you look for a common feature of the spells if you’d like? Maybe we can find out what it is that causes it.”

Jisung nodded as she spoke. “Yes please, Noona. Thank you so much.”

“No problem.” She smiled. “I could learn a lot from a kid like you.”

“You’re a witch?” Jisung asked. He didn’t know why it didn’t occur to him before.

“Yeah, directional magic. Nowhere near as powerful as yours but I think I’ve a little more practice.”

“Like North and South?” Jisung asked, curiously. That was a kind he hadn't head of before, even on his reddit dives.

“Anything with direction,” Somin explained. “It can be North-South, left-right, towards happiness, under the radar. My magic is stronger with odd spells when I get creative like that.”

“I just tend to make things explode,” Jisung said. “I can give you a demonstration if you'd like?”


	9. We're running out of lightbulbs

“How about one day without explosions?” Chan suggested. “We’re running out lightbulbs and I don’t know where Woojin orders them from.”

“Fine,” Jisung said grudgingly. “I guess I can bring forward a happy memory or something.”

“You can do that?” BM asked in interest.

“Yeah.” Jisung reached up a hand to his forehead. “Uh, can you crouch down?”

BM laughed and bent his knees. “Do you look through the memories?” He didn’t seem opposed to that though.

“No, it’s the emotion I search for.” BM had a lot of happy memories, Jisung was pleased to find. He seemed like a positive man, with happiness tingeing a lot of the memories he had even if it wasn’t the strong emotion attached to them. Jisung picked one of the brightest one and tugged it forward before retreating so he wouldn’t see it play.

A smile lit up BM’s face. “That’s a good one,” he said wistfully. Somin looked to him curiously but BM shook his head. Whatever memory it was, he wasn’t going to share it here.

“Me next! Me next!” Minho called, wriggling in Chan’s grip to get to Jisung. Jisung took him before he could fall and Minho knocked their heads together. It wasn’t how Jisung normally did it but this would work just as well. 

He closed his eyes and searched Minho’s memories. There were a lot more negative memories as Jisung sifted through them. Not many truly bad ones but loneliness muted anything positive. Jisung went back to the recent memories. The point Minho joined their family was a sudden change that Jisung rarely saw. The loneliness receded and everything became a mess of happiness, fear, confusion and other emotions Jisung couldn’t pin. More recent memories were less likely to be ruled by a single emotion as they were better remembered in general and had more logic paths back to them. For Minho, happiness and confusion seemed to be closely linked though without looking at the memories Jisung wouldn’t find the cause. He picked one where happiness overruled and gave it the slightest tap before leaning back so their heads weren’t touching.

“Sungie,” Minho said happily, pulling Jisung’s head back toward him. Jisung resisted. Tiny Minho might consent but Jisung felt it wasn’t fair to see his adult memories without adult Minho’s permission.

“I can’t look, Min,” he said, trying to pull back without dropping Minho.

“It’s Sungie!” Minho protested and headbutted his chest. That did it and Jisung got a flash of himself acting like a complete idiot in the middle of a family dinner before he clamped his magic to stop it playing.

Chan grinned wolfishly. “Well, isn’t that adorable.”

Jisung glared at him. “I will find your most embarrassing memory and play it on repeat,” he threatened.

Chan took a step back. “I don’t have any embarrassing memories. I forget them all like a cool person.”

“That explains why you can’t remember how many children you have,” Jisung retorted and BM burst out laughing.

“Self-burn. Those are rare,” the other girl said. She and the man had joined them at some point while Jisung was wrestling with Minho.

“It is my lifelong goal to embarrass Channie-hyung,” Jisung told her. “If anything, I’ve been validated.”

“And you thought I was a bad maknae,” the girl told BM.

“I never said that,” BM protested. “You are a joy to be around, Jiwoo.”

“Great,” Jiwoo smiled widely. “Buy these for me?” She held out her hand with two pairs of hoop earrings. 

BM rolled his eyes but took them. “Fine. Anybody else want something?” The other two dashed off. “I hope I can pay with card,” BM told Chan.

“Uhh, probably not,” Chan admitted. “Sung fried the machine yesterday. Take them as gifts to an old friend.”

“Chris, that’s too much,” BM said. “Those earrings probably cost about 100,000 won on their own.” 

Chan grimaced at that, “I actually have no idea.”

“You should get Binnie-hyung,” Jisung told him.

“I should get Binnie,” Chan agreed. “I’ll be right back.” He dashed off up the stairs.

“Binnie-hyung made them,” Jisung informed them while they waited. “He’s a dwarf.”

Jiwoo’s mouth fell open in an ‘O’. “That’ll be expensive. I’ll put one back.”

BM closed his hand around them. “Nope. If you like them you should get them. I know you’ll wear them.”

“Thank you, Oppa,” she said quietly.

“It’s probably not as much as you think,” Jisung told them, setting Minho back down on his chair. “Woojinnie-hyung says we sell things really cheap.”

Chan came back downstairs with Changbin in tow. BM held out the earrings wordlessly and Changbin took them, holding them up to the light to check the quality of his work. Jisung didn’t know why he did it. Everything he made was carefully crafted to the smallest detail.

“Are these for you, Noona?” Changbin asked Jiwoo. She nodded. “These bigger hoops have been lying around for ages. I was going to rework them next week in the hope someone would buy them.”

“I like them like that,” Jiwoo said quickly. “The flattened part at the bottom is really unique.”

“Thanks,” Changbin ducked his head to hide his smile as he checked the clasps. “Maybe I’ll make more like that.” He handed them back to BM and turned to Chan. “Friends Discount.”

Chan grinned broadly. “Great!”

***

“How much?” BM asked when the other two had returned with something that interested them and it was all gathered on the table.

“Free,” Chan said. “Friends Discount.”

“Your Friends Discount is ‘free’?” Somin asked doubtfully.

“We’re terrible at business,” Chan said proudly. “My boyfriend hates it.”

“In that case, I’m paying by helping Jisung with his de-ageing spell.” Somin said, catching Jisung’s eye. Jisung nodded and unlocked his phone for her to type in her number. He’d take any and all help he could get.

“Yeah, we owe you big time, Chris,” BM said as Changbin bagged up their purchases. “If you don’t call in a favour I’m going to come back with cash and hide it in your top shelves.”

“Wouldn’t work,” Chan said. “We excel at avoiding payment.” That was true but height was a family weakness. If there was one way to outmaneuver them it would involve high shelves.

“I’ll tell your boyfriend then,” BM threatened instead and Chan’s eyes widened. “Ha!” BM laughed. “Who would have thought sullen little Bang Chan would ever let someone close enough to have leverage on him. I’ll need to meet this boy next time.”

“I’ll let you know when he rejoins civilisation,” Chan said moodily as he waved them out the door. “See you soon!”

“Thanks for the gifts, Channie!!” Jiwoo called back before they wandered off down the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woojin's been gone a week and their business model is already gone lol


	10. Be loving and caring to your family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So at 2am last night I went 'fuck it, I miss woojin and innie, they're coming back now' and wrote this. And then this morning I wake up to see irl woojin was gonna do a LIVESTREAM. Did I summon him?
> 
> So imma post this now cos I'm still riding that high. My woojin is so ooc but honestly I love him as a character so hes not changing

“Nobody tell Woojinnie we gave stuff away for free,” Chan told them sternly.

“You gave stuff away for free?” Seungmin asked, coming back to the storefront conveniently after the customers were gone. “Did you at least get some gossip?”

“Directional witches are a thing?” Jisung offered.

“Boring, Seungmin responded, not covering his mouth as he yawned.

“De-ageing someone with magic has never been done before?” Jisung suggested. It still wasn’t something he wanted to think about but at least he had help now.

“Interesting,” Seungmin said appreciatively. “You’re one-of-a-kind, Min.”

“I was always one-of-a-kind,” Minho retorted. “Now I’m just shorter.”

“And you don’t understand delayed gratification anymore,” Seungmin said with a grin. There was a second of silence as everyone in the room tried to work out his cryptic words.

“Kim Seungmin, have you been doing psychological experiments on your brother?” Chan asked crossly.

“Yeah.” Seungmin admitted with a shrug. It was nothing new. He’d once learnt how to psych out his opponents in rock paper scissors and beaten Jisung 15 times in a row. “Minho would definitely do them on me so why shouldn’t I? I didn’t do the bobo doll one though.”

“Terra, I fucking hope not,” Chan said, running a hand through his messy curls. “There’s a reason it’s banned. Where did you even learn about them?”

“Woojinnie-hyung,” Seungmin said proudly, sliding into a seat next to Minho and messing with the game he was playing.

“Woojin wouldn’t teach you that,” Chan said with confidence.

“Fine,” Seungmin relented. “Woojinnie-hyung told me he wouldn’t teach my psychological warfare so I googled it.”

Chan tipped back his head and stared at the ceiling. “I’m too old for this,” he told the shattered lightbulb before looking back at Seungmin. “Seungminnie, please don’t use psychological warfare on family members. I shouldn’t even have to say that.”

“No,” Seungmin replied. “It’s my strongest advantage.”

“You should be loving and caring to your family,” Chan tried.

“I love them,” Seungmin said. Jisung wasn’t sure he should believe that. “I’m strengthening their resolves, in case of a real psychological attack. Innie’s great at resisting it and Hyunjinnie is good when he concentrates. These idiots just need more practice.” He swept his hand to indicate Jisung, Changbin and possibly Minho.

“HEY!” Changbin said, affronted.

“Do you work out your biceps to compensate for being so short?” Seungmin asked him and then ran for the stairs, Changbin hot on his heels.

Chan sighed. “Just because Seungmin knows where all your buttons are, doesn’t mean he should push them,” he muttered but did nothing to stop the fight.

“I don’t have buttons,” Jisung protested. He was nowhere near as sensitive as Changbin.

“You’re really gullib.” Minho frowned as his mouth struggled to form the word. “Gullilib? Gullubub? Easy to trick,” Minho said eventually, giving up.

“What’s wrong with trusting people?” Jisung asked him. Maybe he did have buttons because that hurt. He knew he often fell for lies but he didn’t think Minho was one of the ones lying to him on purpose.

“People lie,” Minho said. “I lie all the time.” _That_ was going to keep Jisung awake at night for weeks now. Why couldn’t more fae be like Felix? Felix was the nicest person Jisung knew and then there was Seungmin and Minho who tricked people as easily as breathing.

“That’s enough, Minho,” Chan chided him. “You shouldn’t lie.”

“ _You_ just said we should lie to Woojinnie-hyung,” Minho pointed out.

“I didn’t say that,” Chan said hurriedly. “I just suggested that maybe we shouldn’t offer Woojin the information freely and hope he doesn’t notice.”

“What do you hope I won’t notice?” Woojin asked from the back room. His shoes were covered in mud and he had a scruffy half-beard from a week of not shaving. He must have just come through the back door just that minute.

“Woojinnie!” Chan cried happily, launching himself at his boyfriend. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too,” Woojin said courteously. “What are you hiding?”

“Sung broke the cash register and an old friend came by so when he couldn’t pay by card I gave the stuff to him for free.” Chan mumbled into Woojin’s neck. He was so whipped he didn’t even try and keep the secret he’d just ordered all of them to stay quiet about. Jisung wanted to be disappointed but mostly he was jealous.

“What ‘stuff’?” Woojin asked, smiling widely at Jisung over Chan’s shoulder and giving him a wave in greeting. Jisung wasn’t in trouble for breaking the shop then. _Result._

“Some things,” Chan said vaguely, pulling back. “How are you?” he asked, taking Woojin’s face in his hands and looking him over carefully. “Where’s the baby?”

“I’m good,” Woojin replied. “Tired. Innie’s in the bathroom. He’s been daydreaming about a toilet for two days.”

“Downstairs toilet?” Jisung asked brightly and at Woojin’s nod he ran through to knock on the door under the stairs. “Innnnie!” he wailed through the wood. “I missssed yoooooou.”

“I didn’t miss you!” Jeongin replied, his voice muffled by the door. “I only missed toilet paper!”

Minho finally caught up with Jisung. “Innie!!” he said excitedly. “Did you turn into a wolf?”

The toilet flushed and Jeongin stepped out after a minute, his face damp from where he’d just washed it. There was a line at his jaw where it went from clean to dirty.

“Who are you?” he asked Minho with hostility.

“Minho!” Minho replied. “Did you turn into a wolf?”

“Minho?” Jeongin asked in disbelief. “No way.”

“Yes way,” Jisung said. This was getting tiring. “I tried to remove his Curse. Removed his age instead. Ta da.”

“Awesome,” Jeongin said, grinning down at Minho. “I’m not the maknae anymore.”

“Yes, you are,” Minho said hotly. “I’m a hundred and a lot. _Did you turn into a wolf?”_

“A hundred and a lot?” Jeongin asked Jisung.

“He’s saying he’s still lived more years than us,” Jisung translated. “You should answer his wolf question or he’ll get mad.”

“No, I didn’t turn into a wolf, Hyung,” Jeongin told Minho. “Sorry to disappoint. Are you going to stay a little kid?”

“Sungie’s going to fix it!”

“Sungie’s going to _try_ ,” Jisung muttered.

Chan and Woojin were just holding each other with their eyes closed when they got back to the shop front. It was disgustingly domestic and boring.

“Hyung, did you know about Minho-hyung?” Jeongin asked loudly. Woojin lifted his head with a questioning hum. Jeongin gestured to Minho pointedly.

“That’s not Minho,” Woojin said. “Chan?” he asked his boyfriend for confirmation.

“Yeah, that’s Minho,” Chan said nonchalantly. “Told you my week was worse.” _Had they really argued over who had the worst week? Surely Jisung won that one by a landslide._

“Ok,” Woojin said, taking Minho’s drastic change of appearance in his stride. “Magic?”

“Yeah,” Jisung grumbled, swinging the hand that Minho was holding. “I’m working on it.”

“Ok.” Woojin was always so calm under stress, Jisung didn’t know how he did it. “Nobody was hurt, were they?”

“I’m fine,” Minho said. “But Channie-hyung hit Sungie on the head and really hurt him.”

Woojin seemed to work out the implications of that because he turned to Jisung with a sympathetic pout and opened his arms. Jisung practically ran into the hug.

“It was really scary, Hyung,” he mumbled into Woojin’s sweater. It smelled awful. “I nearly killed him.”

“You didn’t though,” Woojin said quietly, stroking from the back of Jisung’s head to the middle of his back. He and Chan were becoming one person, Jisung could have sworn they had exactly the same response. It still worked to sooth him though. “I’m sure you can work out how to fix it. You’re a smart boy, Sungie. You’ll have him back to normal in no time.”

“I hope so,” Jisung whispered and reluctantly let Woojin pull out of the hug.

“Minnie,” Woojin called as Jisung stepped back. “Hug.”

“I don’t want a hug,” Minho said stubbornly. “You’re dirty.”

“I’m getting a hug,” Woojin said firmly. “Come here before I chase you.”

“Chase me,” Minho said with a grin and ran off .

“You walked into that one,” Chan said as Woojin sighed wearily.

“Adult Minho is normally too lazy to run,” Woojin protested.

“Child Minho is not,” Chan replied. “ He climbs stuff too and tries to cook by himself.”

“And jumps on you when you’re sleeping,” Jisung added. He was still annoyed at Chan for setting that one up.

“Uhh, do you know Minho just ran off?” Hyunjin asked from the curtain to the back room looking back to where Minho had just passed him.

“Yeah,” Woojin replied. “I’m supposed to chase him.”

“Hyung! You’re back!” Hyunjin cried happily. “And Innie.” He stopped in his tracks like sim without a purpose.

“Hi,” Jeongin said timidly.

“Hi,” Hyunjin replied awkwardly. “Did you get a wolf form?”

Jeongin shook his head. “No, I got a bear.”

 _“A BEAR?”_ Chan exclaimed, horrified.

“My week was worse,” Woojin grumbled to Chan, patting his arm in consolation. “I’m gonna go find Minho,” he told them and wandered slowly towards that stairs.

“ _A BEAR?”_ Chan repeated. “Woojin! Come and explain!”

“‘M busy!” Woojin called back. “Innie can tell you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chan is a whole mood


	11. We're all abnormal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a filler chapter to get to the inminjin  
> ... in which the kids objectify chan

“Innie,” Chan turned on Jeongin. “What happened to getting a wolf form?”

“I saw a bear,” Jeongin said, shrugging. “Can I go shower now? I think I have pine sap in my hair.”

Chan carded his hand through Jeongin’s hair, tugging at the tangles. Jisung knew that tactic. Chan was actually using his heightened senses to work out if Jeongin was hiding something from him. If you squirmed, he only got more suspicious. “Ok, fine,” Chan eventually allowed. “But once you and Jinnie are clean and in fresh clothes I expect a full story.”

Jeongin raced off as soon as he was freed, only running into a wall once on his way up the stairs. “I’m fine!” he yelled back to them before anybody could move to go check. How he hadn’t been mauled by a bear, Jisung had no idea.

“Well, we might as well close shop,” Chan said. “I take it neither of you can be convinced to miss out on the bear story.”

“Definitely not,” Hyunjin said. “Do you think it was a baby bear or an adult bear?”

“Baby bears would be with mummy bears,” Jisung pointed out as Chan went to flip the sign and lock the door. “If Innie tried to touch a baby he’s an idiot.”

“So he’s less of an idiot to touch an adult bear?” Hyunjin asked as they made their way upstairs.

“He’s an idiot either way,” Chan said from behind them. “ _Honestly_ , a wild wolf was already pushing it but Woojin _said_ Innie would be perfectly safe with him, that it would be better to try out the form in a natural environment. A _bear_ ,” he grumbled to himself. “I didn’t even think we had that many bears in Korea.”

“He’s fine though, Hyung,” Hyunjin placated him. “Four limbs, one heart, one head. All the normal amounts of body parts.”

“Are you admitting that you’re abnormal?” Jisung asked cheekily.

“I have an advanced anatomical structure,” Hyunjin said pompously. “You’re one to talk though.” He knocked Jisung’s shoulder with his. “I think you, personally, have defied every single law of physics I’ve been taught in class.”

“We’re _all_ abnormal,” Chan said, putting an arm around each of them as they reached the top of the stairs. “That’s why you live with me.”

“Seungminnie is pretty normal,” Jisung protested as Chan steered them into the living room.

Chan squinted at him. “Have you spoken to Minnie lately, bud?” he asked as if he was concerned for Jisung’s mental health. He wasn’t. He was being a little shit. Jisung hit his stupidly solid chest with his fist.

“You know what I mean, “ Jisung whined, flopping onto the couch. “He’s not got wings or fangs or ‘fizzy blood’ or anything.”

“He can talk to plants,” Hyunjin said.

 _“So can I_ ,” Jisung said. It’s not like the plants spoke back to Seungmin.

“The plants actually listen to him though,” Hyunjin pointed out.

“Do they though?” Jisung asked. “Or has Seungminnie just convinced you that they’re doing what he told them to do?”

That stopped Hyunjin dead in his tracks. He stared at the couch, and then out the window, and then at the floor, before walking back out of the room.

“What did I _just say_ about psychological warfare,” Chan said, angrily tidying up the blankets that were dumped on the floor.

“That Seungmin shouldn’t do it,” Jisung grinned.

“Ya!” Chan hit him with the blanket he’s just folded. _“Nobody_ should be doing it.”

“So I’m just supposed to be nice to Hyunjin?” Jisung asked in mock confusion. “All the time?”

“Only on the days of the week that end in a Y.”

“That’s all the days,” Minho said very helpfully, running into the room. He had fluffy socks secured to his feet with elastic bands and a cropped hoodie hanging off his shoulders, the empty sleeves trailing behind him.

“Is that my hoodie?” Chan asked with a frown. He beckoned Minho over and tied off the sleeves in a bow at the front of his body. Minho was wearing it more like a poncho, his hands stick out of the distressed hem.

“Woojinnie-hyung said I was cold,” Minho told Chan as he stood patiently while the vampire fixed his haphazard outfit. “He also said ‘Channie’s slutty streak finally has a purpose’.”

Chan choked on his own spit but recovered quickly. “Well, that’s just rude. He, of all people, should know that my slutty streak is great for business.”

“I’m _so glad_ that’s how that sentence ended,” Jisung said in a rush, relieved he hadn’t been mentally scarred any more than he was already. “But how exactly is your slutty streak great for business?”

“Sales increase when I’m wearing a croptop,” Chan said casually. “Woojinnie noticed the correlation last winter.”

“Is that what all his funny graphs are showing?” Changbin asked, joining them from the kitchen with an apple and a knife. He proceeded to meticulously cut it into edible chunks without dropping a single piece. Minho held his mouth open like a baby bird and got fed a bit so Jisung did the same.

“I mean, the graphs are mostly tracking sales,” Chan said, slightly embarrassed now. Serves him right. “The croptop thing was discovered by accident. He doesn’t actually keep a graph of how much skin I’m showing every day.”

“That you know of,” Changbin grinned. “Do you think it’s a continuous variable of skin percentage visible or a sluttiness rating?” he asked Jisung.

“Sluttiness rating,” Jisung replied immediately. “I’d give today a 4.3 out of 10. No abs, but the biceps are out and you can see the faint outline of his titties.”

“Jisung!” Chan gasped, covering his chest. It only served to make his biceps stand out more.

“Hair!” Minho garbled around a mouthful of apple.

“Good point, Min,” Changbin said. “No forehead, down to 3.8.”

“Can you stop?” Chan asked in disbelief.

“We can, but we won’t,” Jisung said.


	12. Special skills

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please appreciate that this is double the normal length of my chapters but i chose not to split it in half at " _Obviously..._
> 
> Innie is such a talented boy. He built an angst train all by himself.

JEONGIN POV

Jeongin stopped in surprise as he entered his room and found Seungmin lounging on Hyunjin's bed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, going to his closet to pull out clean clothes. The clothes he was wearing had dirt and lichen stains everywhere even though he hadn't been wearing them very much and he could feel a layer of grime on his skin.

"I was waiting for you," Seungmin said happily. "I heard Woojinnie-hyung come upstairs."

"I need a shower," Jeongin told him. He still didn't know what he and Seungmin were. They'd done the whole 'I like you, you like me' thing so logically they should be boyfriends but it didn’t seem to be that way.

Jeongin had never expected his feelings to be reciprocated so he hadn't really entertained the idea of dating Seungmin, or Hyunjin for that matter, before. It had just seemed like self-torture to imagine things he wouldn't get, but now he had the opportunity he wasn't really sure what he should do. To start with he'd acted pretty much as normal around Seungmin, maybe letting him away with more skinship than he used to before pushing him away like he always did. On a couple of occasions their roughhousing even led to a brief kiss, too fleeting for Jeongin to really work out how he felt about it. However, they'd stopped even that much pretty quickly after noticing the conflicted frown that began to permanently mar Hyunjin's face. It almost felt comforting to Jeongin to go back to repressing his emotions and Seungmin was equally skilled at the task so it had taken very little communication between them to unanimously agree to go back to the way things were before to try and make Hyunjin smile again.

Hyunjin hadn’t started smiling again. He wouldn’t even talk to them and found excuses to leave whatever room they were in. It felt like Jeongin was being punished. He’d been too greedy to want both Hyunjin and Seungmin so now he got neither. He’d started avoiding Seungmin too, trying to show Hyunjin with his actions that they weren’t leaving him behind, but it did no good as Hyunjin left the room the minute he saw either of them. Jeongin didn’t try to rekindle his friendship/romance with Seungmin after that. He’d made the mistake of wanting more once, he wasn’t going to do it again.

Woojin offered to take him to the national park in the south of the country to look for wolves and Jeongin didn’t hesitate to say yes. He hadn’t cared much about getting a wolf form anymore but it was a better escape than hiding as a rat. He could even put up with Woojin asking him about his feelings if it meant leaving the tension behind for even a week.

Jeongin wondered if Chan had maybe spoken to Seungmin while they were away if Seungmin was trying to talk to him again. It would be good if they could be friends again. Jeongin would never wish for anything more if they could just be friends again.

“I kissed Hyunjinnie,” Seungmin said, smiling brightly. Jeongin had to look away. There was a strange emotion swelling in his lungs and it was getting harder to breathe.

“That’s good,” Jeongin managed to say. “I’m- shower.” He numbly left the room and went to the bathroom, turning on the light at the shower on autopilot. He stripped quickly, distracting his mind with the movement and stepped under the hot water. It was only when the water had soaked through his hair and started running down his face that he began to cry.

His brain replayed Seungmin’s face as he delivered the news. He had been happy, more relaxed than Jeongin had seen him in a while, now that he’d kissed Hyunjin. Jeongin had watched the two of them dance around each other for years- this was what was supposed to happen. Anybody who knew them would say the same. Seungmin and Hyunjin, Hyunjin and Seungmin, their names were always paired together at school and even at home. He was just tagged on as the little brother that provided good entertainment. The week before he left was a testament to that. Jeongin was friend material, not boyfriend material, and even at that he was kind of a shitty friend. At least Seungmin had someone better now and maybe Hyunjin would smile again. Not for Jeongin but that didn’t matter. Jeongin would treasure every polite ‘hi’ he could get.

When he had exhausted himself of tears he scrubbed his body clean and dumped shampoo onto his hair. The damn tree sap wouldn’t come out and the more he tried to wash it the more tangled it got. Too tired to fight anymore, he turned off the water to get dressed again. Chan could cut off all his hair for all he cared.

Jeongin had steeled himself to see Seungmin again as he went back to his bedroom but Hyunjin was there too, stretched out on his bed behind Seungmin, looking unfairly attractive in his old t-shirt and sweatpants. Jeongin didn’t quite ignore them but he didn’t invite conversation. The sooner he could get back out of the room the sooner he could breathe again.

“Your hair’s got something stuck in it,” Seungmin said as if Hyunjin’s hand wasn’t tracing patterns on his back.

“Pine sap,” Jeongin said shortly. “I’ll just cut it out.” He threw his dirty clothes in his hamper and carelessly slapped moisturiser onto his face. He should really do it properly and go through his whole skincare routine since he’d not even managed to drink regularly over the last week but he couldn’t find the energy to care about it. One more day of bad skin wouldn’t hurt- it’s not like he had anybody to impress.

“Don’t cut your hair,” Hyunjin said. “It looks good long.”

“It’ll grow again.” Jeongin shrugged, heading for the door. Seungmin grabbed his wrist as he passed.

“Innie, what’s wrong?” he frowned up at him with his stupid puppy eyes. Jeongin shook his hand free

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Is it because I kissed Hyunjinnie first?” Seungmin asked. _First?_ What the hell did he mean? Who else was he planning on kissing and why would Jeongin care?

“It was only yesterday,” Hyunjin added, sitting up. “Today really, since it was at like 2am this morning.” Jeongin didn’t want to hear about it.

“I’m going out,” he said dismissively but Hyunjin stood up in his way. “Hyung-”

“Did something happen while you were away?” Hyunjin asked, matching Jeongin’s side-step so he was still between him and the door. That combined with the question was the final straw.

“ _Obviously_ ,” Jeongin spat out, gesturing between them. “I’m happy for you and all but can I _please_ go be rejected somewhere else?”

“Rejected?” Hyunjin echoed, tilting his head in confusion. Jeongin was already preparing to shift to get out of there when Seungmin gasped behind him.

 _“Terra._ Innie no, I wasn’t rejecting you. Never.” He spun Jeongin around to face him. “ _Both_ , remember?” Seungmin said, cupping Jeongin’s face in his hands and staring deep into his eyes. It was terrifying. Tenderness was not something Jeongin associated with Seungmin. “I can date both of you, can’t I?” Seungmin asked. He looked so scared that all of Jeongin’s irritation evaporated.

“I don’t have a problem with you dating Hyunjin,” he admitted reluctantly, avoiding his gaze. “But _we_ aren’t dating.”

Seungmin frowned. “We aren’t?”

Jeongin wasn’t even sure they would be considered friends anymore, not that he didn’t want to be. Friends just tended to spend time together and they had been about as far apart as two people who lived together could be. Until now. Now Seungmin was really close and they were even talking about _feelings_. And well, if they were talking about feelings they were already most of the way there.

“Kiss me now and I’ll consider it,” Jeongin offered an olive branch. Seungmin didn’t hesitate.

It was a sweeter kiss than the previous ones he’d gotten and now Jeongin understood why Chan asked Woojin for kisses all the time. It was like an instant health boost, lifting his mood and relaxing his muscles in a matter of seconds. A few more of them and he’d be happily asleep.

“Be my boyfriend?” Seungmin asked as he pulled away. He was still close enough that Jeongin had trouble deciding which part of his face to look at.

“I guess,” Jeongin breathed. He could really do with more kisses like that.

“My turn!” Hyunjin said. Jeongin turned to him expectantly but Hyunjin just quirked a small smile his way before looking to Seungmin. “You’ve not asked me out either, Minnie.”

“Why do I have to be doing the asking?” Seungmin said. “If anything, I think you should have to do it for taking so long to realise you liked me.” He raised his eyebrows at Hyunjin before looking down to Jeongin who was trapped between them. “He also likes you and Changbin-hyung.”

“ _Changbin-hyung?_ ” Jeongin asked. His voice cracked but that wasn’t important.

“That’s what I said,” Seungmin said smugly.

“Minnie’s kissed Felix!” Hyunjin fired back. And Jeongin thought liking two people was bad.

“My limit is two boyfriends,” Jeongin said. He wasn’t sure if he should be setting his own limit or theirs.

“I want the second slot!” Hyunjin said quickly, actually raising his hand like a schoolkid. His enthusiasm made Jeongin heart soar and his dorkiness made him want to hit him.

“What do you have to offer?” he asked as Seungmin’s arms slid around his waist. He leaned back into Seungmin’s touch and Hyunjin’s eyes widened.

“Wow, I’m gay,” Hyunjin said, quite possibly missing the question entirely. If this was going to happen every time he and Seungmin interacted Jeongin was going to have a lot of fun.

“That was a prerequisite,” Jeongin said cheekily. “I was asking for special skills.”

Hyunjin just stared at them.

“I have no special skills,” he said in a far away voice after a moment.

“Lies,” Seungmin said, letting go of Jeongin to tug Hyunjin to sit back down on his bed with him. “You care a lot about everyone around you. You can whistle better than anybody I know. You’re a great swimmer. You understand Mr Lee’s physics lessons- which is a miracle all on it’s own. You look good no matter what you’re wearing- do I need to go on?”

“Being pretty isn’t a special skill,” Hyunjin protested. “And I’m only good at swimming because I’m amphibious.”

Jeongin hadn’t intended to make Hyunjin question his self-worth with that question. Hyunjin was plenty special for Jeongin just as he was. He sat on Hyunjin’s other side and threaded their fingers together.

He held up their hands. “Oh look, you passed.”

Hyunjin giggled. “Because I have hands?”

“No, because you make my chest feel weird,” Jeongin said grudgingly. He wasn’t about to say the _L-word_ no matter how intense the feeling was.

“Terra.” Seungmin said, leaning around Hyunjin to look at Jeongin in mock concern. “Hyunjinnie, I think Innie might be feeling _an emotion_.”

“Shut up,” Jeongin grumbled. “Puberty is the worst.”

“Agreed,” Seungmin said. “I thought I was done but Channie-hyung says I’m still growing.”

“At least you guys know you’ll stop growing at some point.” Hyunjin flopped onto his back but kept holding Jeongin’s hand. Jeongin noticed he was holding Seungmin’s too. “The doctor can’t even work out if I _get_ puberty.”

“I’ll still be your boyfriend even if you become a 20 foot kraken,” Jeongin reassured him. It wouldn’t be ideal but Jeongin thought they could make it work. Seungmin would probably need to learn to swim better though.

“Boyfriend?” Hyunjin asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” Jeongin said, unable to stop himself smiling. “You’ve got to share though.”

“Kiss?” Hyunjin asked next, grinning back.

“Neither of you know what you’re doing,” Seungmin warned them.

Jeongin flipped him off as he leant down to kiss Hyunjin. “You can give us feedback later.”

Seungmin was right. They had no idea what they were doing and it didn’t physically feel as good as his kiss with Seungmin. But _emotionally_ it was pretty fucking great. Hyunjin bit Jeongin’s lip which shouldn’t have been good but weirdly it was and also his hands were everywhere. Or maybe it was Seungmin’s hands too. One of the hands- whoever’s it was- got stuck in his hair. Hyunjin pulled back with a distressed noise. It must have been his hand then.

“You're sticky,” he said, trying to get the pine sap off his hand. It was a futile effort. Jeongin had already discovered that that shit could not be moved.

“ _Humans,”_ Seungmin said, rolling his eyes. “Stay here.”

“What do you think he’s gone to get?” Hyunjin asked as Seungmin left the room, pressing idle open-mouthed kisses along Jeongin’s jaw.

“A machete.”

“Scissors are more likely,” Hyunjin reasoned.

“A machete,” Jeongin repeated.

Seungmin did not come back with a machete although Jeongin still wasn’t convinced that there wasn’t one in his and Felix’s room. Felix brought back some weird shit from his trips through the Skin.

“Sit on the floor,” Seungmin ordered him. He draped a tea towel around Jeongin’s shoulders, revealing a bottle of _vegetable oil?_

“You’re not gonna..?” Jeongin asked as Seungmin sat on the bed behind him and hooked his heels around Jeongin’s hips to scoot him back between his knees.

“I’m gonna,” Seungmin confirmed, pouring oil onto his hand. “I’ve done this before. Not with this oil but it’ll work, trust me.”

“And then you’ll smell like fried chicken for a week,” Hyunjin told Jeongin gleefully.

“Nah, it works kinda like conditioner,” Seungmin said. "Innie’s just gonna have shiny slidey hair.” Jeongin felt him start to massage the worst mat near the crown of his head.

“How did you even get so much tree sap in your hair?” Hyunjin asked. He took a bit of the oil and crouched down to work it into the clumps in Jeongin’s fringe. This was not what Jeongin had imagined he’d come home to and it felt a little like he’d stepped into a dream.

“Climbed a tree,” Jeongin said. He didn’t mention that the reason he had so much sap in his hair was that he was really bad at climbing trees.

“Why?” Seungmin asked.

“To get to the bear.”

“ _To_ the bear?” Seungmin clarified. “Not away from it?” Jeongin suddenly remembered that Seungmin didn’t know about his new form yet.

“Yeah, I have a bear form now.”

“How did Woojinnie-hyung not kill you?” Seungmin asked rhetorically.

“Wolves can’t climb trees.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did it! |I didn't make jeongin run away like originally planned. They talked. They KISSED. They managed 2/3 boyfriend proposals


	13. The full range of human emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another bigger chapter because I fear mutiny if I delay this bear story any longer. 
> 
> It was funny how in the last chapter InMinJin finally happened and people were like 'No, the ships are not important. Tell me about the bear'
> 
> Also I put the height in feet and metres. You're welcome America

After a few minutes there was a knock before Woojin stuck his freshly shaven face around the door. He immediately recoiled before getting a hold of his senses and slipping inside the room, shutting the door behind him.

“It smells like the full range of human emotions in here,” he commented and crossed the room to shove open the window. After sticking his head out for a second he turned back to them. “I hope it went negative to positive and you’re all ok now?”

“I have more boyfriends than you,” Jeongin bursted out.

Woojin grinned. “I’m proud of you all. And I would love to leave the three of you to whatever weird bonding activity this is but Channie will snap my neck if he doesn’t find out how you weren’t mauled to death by a bear in the next ten minutes.”

“We’re getting the pine sap out of Innie’s hair with vegetable oil,” Hyunjin said.

“Which oil?” Woojin asked, peering around Jeongin. “Oh, that one. That’s fine. Don’t use the one with the green label- it’s expensive. Also- Innie, where are your dirty clothes? They can’t go in a normal wash like that.”

Jeongin pointed at his hamper. “Can’t you just tell Channie-hyung the story? Jisung-hyung is going to make fun of me.”

Woojin pulled out the stained clothes. “Jisung is not going to make fun of you. He’s a little preoccupied with five-year-old Minho at the minute. And no, I can’t tell Channie because I wasn’t _fifteen feet up a tree_ so I missed the important bit. You’ve got five minutes to decide if you’re keeping your relationship status a secret or not but then I expect you all in the living room.”

“Fifteen feet?” Hyunjin asked, holding up his foot.

“Four and a half metres, ish,” Woojin explained. “Honestly, it was probably more.” He closed his eyes as if to fight the memory. “Five minutes,” he warned them and left the room.

“You’re going to be incapable of not hanging off us, aren’t you?” Seungmin asked Hyunjin.

The smile that had been near-permanent on Hyunjin’s face got wider. “Nope. I might be able to convince them we’re only friends though?” He only thought that because his definition of friends was pretty damn similar to what most people considered romantic. That’s what started this whole mess in the first place.

“Demonstrate a friendly hug on Seungminnie-hyung,” Jeongin ordered him.

Both boys wiped their hands off on the teatowel and Seungmin held his arms open. Jeongin shuffled forward to give them space and Hyunjin cuddled into Seungmin’s side, hooking his chin over Seungmin’s shoulder. Jeongin tilted his head and shrugged to Seungmin. It seemed ok to him. Maybe Hyunjin had learnt the difference between platonic and romantic.

Seungmin looked pointedly down where Hyunjin’s hand was gripping his upper thigh. Ok, maybe not. But then again, Hyunjin was a notorious cuddle monster. Everyone in the family had accepted by now that he would be as physically close as he could be given the opportunity.

“They might not notice,” Jeongin said to Seungmin. “He’s done worse.”

“I’m right here,” Hyunjin protested.

“How could I forget,” Seungmin said teasingly, shrugging his shoulders with difficulty. Hyunjin just moved closer, hooking a leg over Seungmin’s. “Can we not tell them and just see how long it takes Sungie to work it out?”

“Lix-hyung will get it first,” Jeongin replied. “And he’s not even here.” He loved Jisung, but boy did things go over that hyung’s head.

“Exactly.” Seungmin said.

JISUNG POV

Seungmin, Hyunjin and Jeongin entered the living room together which was strange to see. But then again they were a triple act and if Seungmin and Hyunjin had made up it would be more strange for them to leave Jeongin alone.

“What have you done to your hair, Innie?” Chan asked, pausing his arm wrestle with Minho. Minho was a dirty cheat and Jisung refused to go against him anymore on the grounds of liking his bones in one piece.

“Seungminnie-hyung thinks it’s going to get the sap out,” Jeongin said, dropping to the floor in front of the couch.

“Seungminnie-hyung _knows_ it’s going to get the sap out.” Seungmin said, sitting behind him and forcing Jeongin to tilt his head to one side. “Stop complaining and tell your disaster story.”

“Wasn’t a disaster,” Jeongin groused as Seungmin poured _cooking oil?_ onto his head. “My trip up the tree was very successful.”

“You were up a tree?” Chan asked weakly. Minho stomped on his arm and declared victory.

Woojin came back from the kitchen with a tray of drinks and held out a mug of hot chocolate to Chan. Chan lifted up Minho and jammed the wriggly boy between him and Jisung before taking it with a thanks. Everyone else got hot chocolate too but Woojin himself had a bottle of beer. Chan raised an eyebrow at that and Woojin shook his head.

“You’ll understand when you hear the story,” Woojin said, sitting next to him and leaning back into the cushions. “I deserve this.”

“Innie, tell us,” Changbin demanded from beside Seungmin. “What did you do to break Daytime Dad? Not even Sungie can manage that.”

“Not my name,” Woojin grumbled.

“Sure, Dad,” Changbin replied.

“Ok,” Jeongin started. “So we went to the park and Hyung shifted. To start with we were just trying to get away from the roads so Hyung could get a track of some wolves. It took- ow, Seungmin!”

Seungmin smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. You’ve really matted this bit.”

“Be gentle,” Jeongin huffed before continuing. “Uh, yeah it took forever and Hyung couldn’t find anything.”

“I found trails, they were just old,” Woojin corrected. “And it wasn’t forever. It was two days.”

“Get on with it,” Chan urged them, poking Woojin’s stomach. If Jisung tried that he’d be pinned to the ground in seconds but Chan just got a disgruntled growl.

“Yeah, well ‘cos Hyung couldn’t find anything I made him stop ‘cos there were all these berries and he kept missing the squirrels he was trying to catch.”

“You were catching squirrels?!?!” Jisung exclaimed. Those poor creatures.

“He _wasn’t_ catching them,” Jeongin said with a grin. “That’s the point.”

“I wasn’t really trying,” Woojin said. “I _could_ have caught those squirrels, I was just bored waiting for your slow legs to catch up.”

“Sure,” Jeongin replied. “Anyway, we stopped in this kinda open bit for a little while and one of the trees had these weird marks so I went to look at them and there was a bear up the tree.” Jeongin was too excited telling his story and Seungmin had to keep forcing him to keep his head still. As it was, there was a droplet of oil running across his forehead.

“Why didn’t you notice a _bear_?” Chan elbowed his boyfriend.

“I was upwind,” Woojin protested. “And it was _up a tree._ ”

“So was Jeongin,” Changbin said gleefully.

“Yeah, so I figured that bear forms must be pretty rare,” Jeongin continued. “And it was only a small bear-”

“It wasn’t small, it was far away,” Woojin said, draining his beer and getting up for another. He collected the empty mugs and Chan, already looking traumatised, raised a finger.

“It was small _and_ far away,” Jeongin rolled his eyes as Woojin left the room. “And it was asleep. There were some low-ish branches so I climbed up to see.”

“To see,” Chan repeated. “It’s a fucking _bear,_ you’d seen it plenty close enough.”

“Language,” Woojin scolded him, coming back with two more beers and handing one to Chan. “You do know this is going to do absolutely nothing for you,” he said as Chan took it from him and took a gulp.

“Leave me to my placebo,” Chan said, before drinking more. He’d already drained half of it.

“You’d be better biting Minnie,” Woojin commented, dropping back into his seat.

Seungmin paused in his work to hold his wrist up to Chan. “Shots?”

Chan batted his hand away. “Not yet.”

“ _Yet,_ ” Hyunjin laughed. “Innie, you broke Dad.”

“He’s broken _Dads._ ” Changbin corrected. “C’mon Innie, what happened next.”

“I climbed up the tree-”

“Up?” Minho’s tiny voice interrupted. “How much up?” He was sitting up, worry clear on his face.

“Not much, Minho-hyung,” Jeongin assured him and Jisung pulled Minho into his lap. The little boy clung to his shirt and pulled Jisung’s arms around him.

“But what if you fall?”

“I didn’t fall,” Jeongin said patiently. “See? I’m fine.” Jeongin held out his hands.

Minho frowned, not happy at all with that answered but didn’t interrupt again.

“Anyway, I climbed the tree and the bear stayed asleep-”

“Was it dead?” Jisung asked. “You walk into walls going in a straight line.”

“It was not _dead,_ ” Jeongin replied crossly as Seungmin repositioned him to work on the next knot of hair. “I was being stealthy.”

“He was not,” Woojin muttered into his beer.

“ANYWAY,” Jeongin continued. “I got up to the bear and touched it’s foot to get the form and it kinda woke up? But it was really sleepy and I think I confused it.”

“I’d be confused,” Changbin said. “Poor thing probably thought humans couldn’t climb trees.”

“ _Will you let me finish the fucking story_ ,” Jeongin said, slamming his hand on the floor.

Woojin kicked his arm lightly. “Language.”

“I will turn into a fucking bear!” Jeongin said, whirling around to glare at him. Woojin glared back and growled deep in his chest. Minho pushed himself back into Jisung’s chest and Jisung hugged him tighter.

“It’s ok,” Jisung whispered into the boy’s hair as Jeongin slumped in defeat and turned back around. Minho gripped Jisung’s arm tight but relaxed again.

“Continue, Innie,” Woojin said after a few seconds of tense silence.

“Don’t want to,” Jeongin said moodily.

“We won’t interrupt you anymore,” Changbin promised.

Jeongin stayed silent.

“Promise, Innie,” Jisung added. “Please, I want to know.”

“Fine.” Jeongin said. “I woke up the bear and it tried to kill me but then _I_ turned into a bear, it freaked out and fell off the branch and Hyung scared it away. The end.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Chan said in a daze. “It tried to kill you?”

“It’s a bear, Hyung. Obviously it tried to kill me,” Jeongin replied. “Any more stupid questions or can I go wash this out and go to bed?” he gestured to his head.

“Two more minutes, Innie,” Seungmin said gently. “I’m nearly done and then I’ll help you wash it out.”

Jisung didn’t dare ask a question since Jeongin seemed very on edge right now. He got a bit like that if he stayed up too late and Jisung wondered if he’d not been sleeping well in the forest. Jisung certainly wouldn’t have slept well knowing that there were wolves and bears around, even if Woojin was with him.

“How did you get down?” Minho asked.

“I f-” Jeongin paused. “I got down very carefully,” he said.  
There was no way that was true. Jeongin was clumsy enough in the body he’d had since birth. With a brand new set of limbs halfway up a tree there was no chance of him descending gracefully. The listeners turned to Woojin who shook his head and drained his second beer.

“I couldn’t work out which bear was Innie at first. They were both equally lacking in finesse.”

“He’s your _son_ ,” Chan scolded him.

“He was a _bear_ ,” Woojin replied. “Identical to the _other bear_. And both of them were growling at me.”

“Innie’s eyes are always different,” Hyunjin pointed out.

“Sure, let me pause my fight with a bear to stare deep into its eyes,” Woojin replied sarcastically. “Obviously, I got the right one,” he gestured to Jeongin. “Ten thousand Dad points to Woojin. I win. Not playing that game again.”

“Well, I am very glad you are both home safe and unhurt,” Chan said amicably, cuddling into Woojin’s side. “And that it was at least a somewhat successful trip so you don’t have to do it again.”

“No, I want to get a wolf form,” Jeongin protested. “Hyung promised.”

“We’re not doing that again,” Woojin said firmly. “Go wash your hair.”

“Come back for hugs before you go to bed!” Chan called after Jeongin as he moodily stomped to the bathroom with Seungmin trailing behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the edit of this was basically me going through and italicising every 'bear'


	14. Dolphins and bears are not on the same level

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So last chapter was the fun version of events. This chapter: reality

Jeongin came back briefly with towel-tousled hair to grudgingly bestow them with hugs. Jisung’s hug was mostly stolen by Minho who clung to Jeongin as he tried to pull away from him, discouraging the young shifter from reaching for Jisung next. It was understandable but Jisung still felt a little put out. Jeongin had even hugged Woojin and it’s not like he had any good reason to be missing him.

Jisung was still moping slightly half an hour later as he watched the others playing FIFA when Jeongin shuffled back into the room with a frown on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Hyunjin asked, looking up from his spot on the floor and holding out a hand. Jeongin ignored him and shuffled over to the couch, flopping down next to Woojin without a word and sliding sideways until his head hit Woojin’s shoulder. Woojin carefully lifted his arm and tucked Jeongin comfortably into his side.

“Are you sure you don’t want Chan?” Jisung heard Woojin ask him quietly.

Jeongin grunted and headbutted Woojin in response.

“Ok,” Woojin said and stroked his hair. His hair looked very soft now, perhaps because of the oil, and Woojin’s hand nearly slid straight off it and hit Jeongin on the nose. “Can you sleep with this noise though?”

Though not everyone could play the game at once, the observers were just as vocal if not more so than the players. Seungmin couldn’t seem to decide if he was backing Changbin or slating his performance, alternating between tactical advice and straight-up verbal abuse of the skill (or lack therefore) the dwarf possessed. Chan was playing for/with Minho which was an interesting combination. Chan was deadly competitive and relatively skilled but Minho knew from his memories how the game was played and he had _opinions_ about the moves Chan was making. Together, they practically cancelled each other out as Minho pushed Chan’s hands off of the buttons when he didn’t follow his demands. Only Hyunjin was mostly indifferent to the outcome, occasionally chipping in with scathing comments and cruel laughter at a particular bad miss.

Jeongin could definitely sleep through that; he could sleep through anything. And he did. By the time the match was over and the competitive veil lifted enough for the others to turn around and notice Jeongin, he was fast asleep in Woojin’s lap. Chan, in particular, was startled to discover Jeongin had reappeared.

“Is he ok?” he asked, looking closely as Jeongin’s sleeping face.

“Nightmares,” Woojin said quietly. “His shifts coming off when he sleeps also makes him nervous.”

Chan pouted. “We shouldn’t have let him try for a big form so young.”

“He just would have done it without you,” Hyunjin pointed out. “His shifter friends back home have dolphin forms now.”

“Dolphins and bears are not on the same level,” Chan argued.

Hyunjin shrugged. “Just saying. You’re lucky he’s not trying for a shark like they are.”

“He was nearly killed by a bear, Jinnie,” Woojin pointed out. “A shark isn’t any more dangerous.”

“Was it really that bad?” Hyunjin asked quietly. He shuffled closer to the couch and slipped his hand into Jeongin’s loose grip.

Woojin glanced across to Minho who was crawling slowly over to where Jisung was sitting, one eye always on the conversation. Jisung scooped Minho up and put his hands over his ears. He’d gotten better at holding kids in the last few days with Minho and instinctively had locked Minho down with his arms under Minho’s armpits before placing his palms against his ears. Minho wriggled as expected when Jisung covered his ears but if this was giving Jeongin nightmares he didn’t want Minho to be hearing about it, no matter how old he technically was.

“I didn’t see what happened high up in the tree,” Woojin said, “But he had claw marks on his shoulder.” Woojin pulled lightly at the neck of Jeongin’s t-shirt and Minho bit Jisung’s arm to get free to go look. So much for stopping him hearing.

There were only the faintest red lines on Jeongin’s skin from what Jisung could see. He could normally heal himself of small wounds with enough concentration and with complete tissue alterations in a shift Jisung had once watched him shift to a fox and back to get rid of a burn. For him still to have marks days later it must have been a serious wound.

“My poor baby,” Chan whispered, stroking Jeongin’s cheek.

“Your baby brought this on himself,” Woojin reminded him. “‘Don’t poke the bear’ is supposed to be metaphorical but he’s smart enough to know he should apply it to actual bears too.”

“Well since he _did_ poke the bear, let me help heal it,” Seungmin said, elbowing Chan out of the way. He slipped his fingers under Jeongin’s collar and muttered a few words. It wouldn’t do much since Jeongin’s body was already working on the wound but hopefully Seungmin could encourage it not to scar.

“Sungie help,” Minho said (demanded), beckoning Jisung over.

“I can’t help better than Minnie,” Jisung told him but crouched down with the rest of them.

“Make him forget the bad bear,” Minho said, taking Jisung’s hand by the wrist and pulling it towards Jeongin. Jisung took his hand back.

“Not when he’s asleep,” Jisung said.

He’d made the mistake of trying that before and got lost in some very weird dreams Changbin was having. The unconscious mind was not something Jisung could work with. There was also the matter of consent. Jeongin might be having nightmares of the bear or of his fall but if Jisung took the memories his brain would try to compensate and might recreate something worse. He had a feeling Chan and Woojin would also want Jeongin to remember what not to do so Jeongin wouldn’t make a similar mistake in the future. Jisung could see it now- Jeongin facing off against a crocodile and losing. He knew how easily that could happen.

“A sleep potion is probably a better idea,” Chan said, clearly having similar thoughts to Jisung. “Do we have any in stock?” he asked Jisung. Jisung didn’t know why. He made the potions, he didn’t keep track of them.

“We do,” Changbin answered for him. “One kind for insomnia and one for nightmares. You’ve got a sleep-walking specific one as well but Hyunjinnie hasn’t tested that one yet.”

“I had exams!” Hyunjin exclaimed.

“And now you don’t,” Jisung reasoned. “So you can test it this week.”

“Oh yeah, while Innie’s having nightmares lets knock his roommate out with an unknown spell- great idea,” Hyunjin shot back, his words laced with sarcasm. Yeah ok, he made a good point.

“Next week?” Jisung asked hopefully.


	15. Jesus Christ, Terra, Luna and Ariana Grande

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is short but I have a deadline

“Can you try to contact Lix?” Changbin asked Jisung that night as they lay in bed. Jisung was exhausted down to his bones but he couldn’t say no. Felix was his friend too and he wanted the reassurance that he was ok just as much as Changbin.

“I’ll try,” Jisung replied. “Can you turn a light on.” Light shouldn’t really be necessary to find the ‘river of magic in the air’ but Jisung was only human- his brain liked to have visual stimulus before it would work.

Changbin flicked on the lamp and sat up expectantly. He looked young like this, younger than Jeongin did sometimes, with his hair mussed and a hopeful smile. Jisung felt the need to give a warning before he crushed Changbin’s hopes.

“It might not work, Hyung. My magic has been pretty low and Lix might still be this side of the skin.”

“I know,” Changbin said. “But it’s been three days so he’s almost definitely back by now.”

“I’ll try,” Jisung repeated. He imagined a sheet of clingfilm pulled taut in the air in front of him and reached out with his magic until he found that invisible barrier. His magic was definitely still depleted and it felt like something in him was on the verge of collapse as he pushed more of it out into the air.

 _Mind suckers_. He took a hold of the slippery skin. Getting this far got easier every time as he learned the feeling and the tricky way the skin tried to twist out of his grasp. Now to find Felix. It was late and he was tired and he didn’t want to wax poetry about his friend. He knew what Felix meant to him, wasn’t that enough?

“ _Bring Felix to me_ ,” Jisung said. It was a gamble. After all ‘Felix’ was just a label they gave to the soul he wanted, it didn’t describe who he was looking for. Instead of words, Jisung let his emotions bind to the last bit of magic he gave to the skin and did his best to hold on as it moved. When it stilled, Jisung did his best to hold it in place and nodded to Changbin.

“Lixie?” Changbin asked hopefully. There was just the faint sound of wind through the trees. “Lix?” Changbin tried again, louder this time. “Are you there, Felix?”

“BINNIE-HYUNG?”

Jisung jumped. _Jesus Christ, Terra, Luna and Ariana Grande._ Did he have to be so loud?

“Hi Sunshine,” Changbin said, grinning maniacally in the lamplight. “Are you doing ok?”

“I’m great!” Felix replied. _What had he been eating to get so hyper?_ “I went to Australia and got snacks! And then I flew to, uh, another place! It’s been great but I’ve not heard from you in _ages_.”

“Ah, the time must have shifted,” Changbin said, with a worried look to Jisung. He was more worried about getting cut off than Jisung’s health though. “It’s only been a few days here. You’re flying again? Are your wings better now?”

“Nearly!” Felix replied. “I’m still quite far from your Gate but I’ve got nearly all the stuff so I’m on my way back. Who else is there?”

“It’s just me and Sung,” Changbin told him. “But Sungie’s working hard to keep the skin together so I don’t think he’ll talk.”

Oh, so he _did_ see how much effort this was taking. Maybe he could consider some urgency then?

“Hi Sungie!” Felix chirped. “I miss you! I miss everyone.”

“Oh! Hyungie and Innie got back today,” Changbin told him. “Innie got a bear form instead of a wolf and Hyung got mad cause Innie nearly died.”

 _“Innie nearly died?_!” Felix screeched. Changbin didn’t give him time to process it.

“Minho-hyung also nearly died cause Sungie tried to get rid of his curse and now he’s five.”

“Five what?” Bless that boy and his feud with time.

“Years,” Changbin clarified. “He’s nearly a baby again and he runs about yelling and causing-” The sound of trees cut off abruptly as Jisung lost his grip on the skin. “Lix?”

“He’s gone,” Jisung said, cuddling back under his duvet. “Sorry I cut you off.”

“It’s ok,” Changbin said, sounding a bit dejected. “Thanks for doing it.”

“Murgh,” Jisung replied, face-planting into his pillow. His whole body felt heavy and though he could still feel some of his core magic, all periphery magic in his blood was gone.

“You didn’t rap this time,” Changbin continued. “How did you manage that?”

“‘M genius,” Jisung mumbled. “Obvsly.”

Changbin laughed, finally noticing that their conversation with Felix hadn’t energised Jisung in the same way it had him. “Goodnight, Sungie.”

Jisung grunted and found just enough energy to turn his head to the side so he wouldn’t suffocate before succumbing to sleep.


	16. Is borange a word?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this might require knowledge of seungmins arc from the first fic

“What did you do?” Seungmin asked abruptly as Jisung sat down at the kitchen table. What kind of mind games was he playing at ass o’clock with a question that vague?

“What didn’t I do,” Jisung replied ambiguously, just to be awkward.

“No, seriously Sungie. What did you do?” Seungmin pressed. “I can see your roots.”

“I’m not a plant. Fuck off.” Jisung reached for the rice. It was cold. He decided to eat it anyway. Seungmin leant over the table and poked the crown of Jisung’s head.

“Your _roots_ ,” he emphasised. “Your hair is going black.”

Jisung dropped his chopsticks and pulled his fringe forward, crossing his eyes to see. “No it’s not.”

“It is,” Jeongin confirmed.

He’d been engrossed in his phone but looked up long enough to snap a picture of Jisung’s head and hold it out to him. _Would you look at that_ \- the blue was leaving. There was only about a centimetre of darker blue hair at his roots before it slowly brightened back to the colour he had been resigned to but now there was hope. Maybe he could go blonde? Or- what was it Minho wanted? Orange?

 _“Nice,_ ” Jisung said and went back to his breakfast. Seungmin frowned at him.

“Did you do more magic? If it’s suddenly disappearing that can’t be good.”

“I phoned Lix,” Jisung told them around his rice. “I think he was further away than normal.”

“Skinsinged?” Seungmin asked.

“Skin _sang_ ,”Jeongin corrected him and Seungmin stuck out his tongue.

“Skin _sang_.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Jisung said, waving a hand in the air. “I magic phoned him. Do either of you know where Lix’s leftover hair dye is?”

“Yes and I’m not telling you,” Seungmin replied, stealing a tomato from Jeongin, possibly just for the thrill of it.

“Just magick it,” Jeongin suggested, following Seungmin’s fingers with his chopsticks. He snapped them at Seungmin’s face and was rewarded with the sight of the half-chewed tomato in Seungmin’s mouth. Jisung grimaced and held up a hand to block his view. He was happy they were talking again but meals had been a lot more peaceful when they had been pretending each other didn’t exist.

“Did you not get the whole ‘no magic: no blue hair’ thing?” Jisung asked Jeongin condescendingly. “Besides, I have no idea how to do that spell. It’s not like the blue is intentional.”

“Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo, turn my hair not blue?” Jeongin suggested, fighting back with world-class sass. “Bibbidi-bobbidi-burple, turn my hair purple?”

“I want orange.”

Jeongin rolled his eyes as if to say ‘ _do I have to do everything myself?_ ’ “Bibbidi-bobbidi-borange, turn my hair orange.”

“Is borange a word?” Seungmin asked them, having finished his tomato.

“Oh, you had no problem with bibbidi, bobbidi and burple, but borange is where you draw the line?” Jisung asked him.

“Are they not words either?” Seungmin asked innocently. “Burple definitely sounds like a word.”

“It’s the word for a bunch of things that get stuck to you.” Jeongin said. “Hyunjinnie-hyung when he shifts is a burple.”

“I actually think that has a double R,” Jisung said, playing along. “Bu _rr_ ple.”

“You’re right,” Jeongin agreed, standing up to put his plate in the sink. “A bu _rr_ ple.”

Seungmin narrowed his eyes and glanced between them. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you? I’m going to ask Channie-hyung.”

“Channie-hyung won’t know it,” Jeongin said. “He still thinks grumpish is a word.”

“Grumpish is a word,” Seungmin argued. “It has an agreed definition. Words can’t just stop being words.”

“Shut up, you _scurvy politician_ ,” Jisung replied, very proud of himself for that one. He might even have used the insult correctly.

“Ooh, Shakespeare,” Seungmin said appreciatively. “Do you really want to go there?”

“How do you know Shakespeare?” Jisung huffed. “They don’t teach it at your school.” Jisung knew. He’d _checked_ before going in search of insults worthy of Seungmin.

“He’s my uncle,” Seungmin shrugged.

Jeongin cackled as he put the leftover food away. He’d taken Jisung’s plate too but Jisung was too distracted to care. He had an argument to win.

“B _ullshit_ ,” Jisung said emphatically. What were the fucking odds of that?

“I can’t lie,” Seungmin grinned wickedly. “William Shakespeare, playwright of _Romeo and Juliet_ and many others, is my blood relative on my mother’s side.”

“Fucking-” Jisung stomped his foot. “Can you let me be cleverer for _one second_?”

“No, my tongue is my special skill,” Seungmin retorted.

Behind him orange juice came out of Jeongin’s nose and sprayed across the floor. Thankfully, he’d turned to watch them argue as he drank straight from the carton instead of facing the fridge like he usually did. That would have been much messier to clean up.

“ _Seungminnie-hyung_ ,” he whined. “I was drinking.” Jisung didn’t get what was so funny.

“Sorry, Innie. I had to,” Seungmin said with no remorse, passing him a napkin. He turned back to Jisung. “I have to be the smart one. You have magic, Innie and Jinnie can shapeshift and Lix can fly. I have to be the smart one.”

“Binnie-hyung and Minho-hyung aren’t magical,” Jisung pointed out. “And you can talk to plants.”

“They’re _adults_ ,” Seungmin protested. Fucking _debatable_. On both accounts. “Also Changbin-hyung can see in the dark and benchpress like four times my weight. And Minho-hyung is so good at dancing that people pay him money to do it. Talking to plants isn’t special. Lix can do it too and once you remove the Curse, Minho-hyung will be able to as well. I _have_ to be the smart one.”

Seungmin gasped for breath slightly when he was done. He almost looked scared were it not for the defiance in his eyes. His fight suddenly made sense. Seungmin was so used to earning his freedom through his intellect that he couldn’t even let Jisung win a friendly debate at the breakfast table.

“You know you don’t have to have a special skill to stay here, right?” Jisung asked gently. “Channie-hyung doesn’t care how smart you are and your dad can’t take you away again.”

“You don’t know that,” Seungmin said quietly, staring at the ground. “I said I knew how to break the curse and it didn’t work. What if I made a mistake with the other bit too?”

“ _I_ made the mistake with the curse,” Jisung said. It was nice that Seungmin felt the burden was on him too though. Misery loves company and all that. “But we’re going to get it right next time and if your dad sends his minions again- just don’t go with them.”

“It’s not that easy,” Seungmin sighed. “I owe him so I have to.”

“I’ll control, alt, delete the order from their memories then,” Jisung said. “Deal?”

“Deal,” Seungmin agreed grudgingly.

“Ha!” Jisung didn’t think that would work. Seungmin was really off his game. “You owe me now. You have to say ‘Han Jisung is a motherfucking genius’,”

“Language,” Woojin said, appearing at the top of the stairs _out of nowhere_ with Minho in tow. Minho had clothes on. That fitted him. And shoes. It was a strange sight for Jisung, who had grown accustomed to seeing him in his t-shirt dress.

“He has to say it!” Jisung protested Woojin. It was a deal.

“Sorry Dad,” Seungmin said, not sorry at all. Woojin was the epitome of ‘disappointed but not surprised’ and just waited for it to be over. “Han Jisung is a MOTHERFUCKING GENIUS!” Seungmin yelled at the top of his lungs. He glanced at Woojin and opened his mouth again. “Han Jisun-”

“No,” Woojin said firmly, clamping a hand over Seungmin’s mouth. “You’ve already said it once.”

Seungmin flapped his hands with a muffled protest that sounded suspiciously like ‘He didn’t specify how many times!’

“Kim Seungmin is a motherfucking genius,” Jeongin whispered, just loud enough to be caught and ran out the room, leaving Woojin in a dilemma.


	17. Six problem children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love that not a single person questioned that i made William Shakespeare Seungmin's uncle.

Woojin sighed. “Are you lot done?” Seungmin nodded enthusiastically and Woojin let him go. He handed the bags he was holding to Minho. “Go put them in your room.”

Minho took them with a serious frown and walked backwards to drag them out the door. He was really too small to take so many bags at once but Jisung daren’t offer to help. He’d had enough ‘one hundred and a lot’ lectures for a lifetime. He was brought back to the present by Woojin slumping into a stool. He leaned heavily on the table and sighed again.

“Are you sighing because you’re old or is there a problem?” Jisung asked him cheekily.

“You’re the problem,” Woojin quipped back. He reached out and snagged Jisung by the hem of his t-shirt and drew him into his side. The tenderness of his hug and the kiss on Jisung’s temple were at odds with his words. “My little problem child.”

“Why isn’t Innie the problem child?” Jisung asked, climbing into Woojin’s lap even though he was too big for it.

“He is,” Woojin replied. “I have six problem children.”

“There are seven of us,” Seungmin pointed out.

“I know.” Woojin beckoned him over too and to Jisung’s surprise Seungmin went willingly.

“Who?” Seungmin asked. _Ah, so that’s why he was playing nice._

“Not telling,” Woojin replied. “And don’t try to get it out of me. Channie was telling me you’ve been googling ‘psychological warfare.’”

Seungmin ignored the accusation. “Well it’s not me, Sungie or Innie. Minho-hyung is also out because he’s Minho-hyung. You favouritise Lix and Jinnie so it could be either of them and you think Binnie-hyung is better than us just because he likes to keep notes.” Seungmin looked expectantly to Woojin but the werewolf’s face was giving nothing away.

“You think I have favourites?” Woojin asked mildly.

“Clearly,” Jisung huffed. “One of us isn’t a problem child. I bet it’s Hyunjinnie. He always gets more hugs.”

Woojin laughed and let them go. “Go get dressed. You’ve got a free day, you might as well make the most of it.”

“We’re allowed out?” Seungmin asked excitedly.

“Oh, have they not caught that vamp yet?” Woojin asked and Jisung’s hopes sank. He enjoyed staying at home but after two weeks of only being able to go out under Chan’s supervision he was sick of it.

“No,” Seungmin said sulkily. “They’re not gonna arrest a vampire so we might as well just go out again.”

Woojin frowned. “You can come out with me. I’ll talk to Chan about it.”

“Channie-hyung can’t do anything,” Jisung grumbled, hopping off of Woojin’s lap. “He’s not a council worker anymore so he has no access to the population files.”

“I’m sure he knows someone,” Woojin assured him. “I’ll be taking Minho, Jinnie and Innie too so work out where you guys want to go.” Jisung knew it was a distraction but it still worked and he skipped out the room after Seungmin.

“Karaoke?” he asked as they parted in the hallway.

Seungmin’s eyes lit up. “You tell Min.”

Jisung knocked on Minho’s door and leaned against the wall as he waited. Adult Minho was always very particular about his privacy and Jisung tried his best not to violate that just because he was younger now. Smaller now? No matter what Minho said, he was definitely not the same boy he had been last week and Jisung was afraid he would hurt himself if he wasn’t watching. It was a fair assumption as the day before there had been a crash and Jisung had pushed open Minho’s door to find him trying to sweep up broken glass with his hands. Thankfully, Jisung had got to him before he’d cut himself and lifted the boy out of the shards, sending him out the room while he cleaned it up. It was one of the many times Minho had been in danger over the last few days and Jisung had to count his breaths as he waited for Minho to answer his door.

“Hello, Jisungie. How may I help you?” Minho said in a lilting voice, looking up at Jisung with a peaceful smile. Jisung wondered what he had been doing before he came to the door to not have his maniac grin in place.

“I was wondering,” Jisung began, “if you would care to accompany me to karaoke this fine summer morning?”

“Karaoke?” Minho asked, his face lighting up. He looked adorable in a pastel pink jumper and cuffed jeans and it was clear Woojin had had fun dressing him.

“Yeah. You, me, Woojinnie-hyung and InMinJin. You want to go?” 

“Yes yes yes!!!” Minho jumped up and down. “I want to go!”

Hyunjin stole Minho from him as Jisung was tying his shoelaces. Why didn’t he pick the converse with the zips?

“Off! Get off!” Minho screamed happily as he tried to escape Hyunjin’s hug. He put his palm against Hyunjin’s cheek and pushed with all his might.

“I gotta make you smell fishy, Min,” Hyunjin said, not dissuaded in the slightest. “Otherwise the vampire will _chomp_ you.” He squeezed Minho’s sides and Minho redoubled his efforts.

“I think you’ve got everyone sufficiently fishy, Jin,” Woojin said with amusement. “I can’t even tell that Seungminnie is a fae anymore.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Hyunjin said with a grin. Minho broke free and ran to hide behind Jeongin. Hyunjin just turned on his next victim.

“I’m fine,” Jisung whined. “ _Jinnie_.” Hyunjin was spinning him like a rotisserie chicken in his arms. “I’m pretty much out of magic- nothing tasty about me,” Jisung protested.

“You’re out of magic?” Woojin asked, stopping Hyunjin’s flimsy excuse for extra hugs. Hyunjin just latched back onto Seungmin.

“I’m fine,” Jisung said dismissively. Really, he felt tired. Curl up and sleep for two days kind of tired but it was nothing he couldn’t power through. “Just running a little low after the last few days. There’ll be less explosions now though- aren’t you glad?”

“Maybe you should stay home with Chan and Binnie,” Woojin said to himself, placing the back of his hand against Jisung’s forehead. He didn’t have a temperature. He was fine.

“No way!” Jisung said, rushing for the door. “You just don’t want me to beat you at karaoke.”

“I’ll beat you at karaoke anyway,” Woojin retorted, following him out. “Don’t go out to the street until everyone’s ready,” he called, ushering the others out the door so he could lock it behind them. He was such a _Dad_ sometimes.

“If I beat you, you have to buy me ice cream,” Jisung bargained, standing next to the bins, probably a little too close to the street for Woojin’s liking.

“Why? Are you buying me ice cream if I win?” Woojin said.

“What about if I win?” Minho said, reaching up to tug on Woojin’s hand. “I have money but I left it at home.”

“Loser gets their ice cream flavour picked for them?” Seungmin suggested. Sneaky bastard basically guaranteed himself free ice cream.

“Deal!” Jisung agreed quickly. No way was he coming last.


	18. Chan would understand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the other day on tumblr (yes i have tumblr, are you really surprised) i saw this post from user witches-familar
> 
> talents include:  
> being a public menace  
> denying god’s will  
> petting dogs  
> yearning  
> being dramatic  
> witchcraft  
> quoting classic literature even when no one asked  
> napping  
> befriending a murder of crows  
> being gay  
> covering up my emotions by being “the funny friend” when in reality i’m really going through it  
> wistfully staring out the car window
> 
> and I'm dying because I have made Jisung do all but two of those things, even 'quoting classic literature'. Gotta find him some corvid friends and a car to stare out of and then I've got a full house

Jisung didn’t come last but, if he was being fair, them all ganging up on Woojin to knock him to the floor and sit on him possibly affected the werewolf’s score. Woojin still did infuriating well with his lungs crushed but then Minho had resorted to just screaming into the mike which tanked pretty much any hope Woojin had of the machine picking up on his talent.

Seungmin and Hyunjin had performed a duet which was arguably better than the original song and landed them in first place. Jisung had no idea Seungmin could rap that well. What was all the bullshit that morning about him having no talents? His problem was clearly recognising his own skills because if Jisung started a rap group (and he was thinking about it) he wanted Seungmin on his team. And yes, Hyunjin’s singing was beautifully haunting but Jisung knew that already.

Jeongin had sang Baby Shark because, physical features aside, he was their baby. Sang wasn’t the right word either, he had _performed_. In comparison, Minho chose something highly inappropriate for a five-year-old and sung his tiny heart out, legs swinging as he sat on the bench. There was raw talent there for sure but the moans had been a bit much.

Jisung wouldn’t admit it, even if you paid him in cheesecake, but he _may_ have gone a little overboard on his turn. It was the machine’s programming’s fault his score was so low because _really_ , holding the high note for twice as long should boost your score if anything. When the song finally ended he was gasping for breath and black spots kept flashing up in his vision so he only knew his score was lower from Hyunjin’s jeering. He took it gracefully and just sat back down, accepting the water Woojin handed him.

Once the competition was over it only got sillier and Jisung spent the hour laughing more than he did breathing. It might even have given him abs. Woojin had to pick him off the floor as they left because Jeongin and Minho’s drinking song duet ended him.

“Stand,” Woojin commanded him sternly, holding Jisung upright. Jisung went limb. “Stand up or I leave you here.” Woojin then threatened.

“You wouldn’t,” Jisung said confidently. “Channie-hyung would make you sleep on the couch.”

“Chan would understand,” Woojin huffed, trying again to set Jisung on his feet. “He’s had to deal with your nonsense far longer than I have.” Somehow Jisung had a feeling ‘nonsense’ wasn’t the word Woojin really wanted to say.

“Sungieeeee,” Minho whined from the door, not in the mood for ‘nonsense’ either. “Ice creeeeeam.”

“Ok, Min,” Jisung called back. “I’m coming.” He did have to lean on Woojin slightly as he stood properly but that was just because it was dark in the karaoke room and he couldn’t find his feet.

“Oh shit,” Hyunjin said as Jisung joined them in the corridor. He was looking at Jisung but not quite meeting his eyes.

“What?” Jisung grumbled. He was too tired to fight like usual.

“Your hair is brown.” That explained why Hyunjin wasn’t looking at his eyes.

“Are you feeling ok, Sung?” Seungmin asked with surprising gentleness.

“I’m fine,” Jisung brushed off their concern. “I just pushed it a little far last night I guess. A nap when we get home and I’ll be good.”

Minho ran over and tugged at Jisung’s hand. He knew the drill by now and hoisted the boy up and onto his hip. He was heavy but Jisung had learned how to shift his weight over one leg so he could hold the boy for a few minutes before getting tired.

“You’re pretty, Sungie,” Minho said casually, reaching out to twist a lock of Jisung’s hair around his finger. He then took a single strand and pulled hard so he could examine it closer. Jisung winced and moved his head away as Minho pulled it out by the root but Minho was too engrossed in his new treasure to notice, squinting and looking at it under the light.

Jeongin stared disapprovingly at Jisung the whole time. “Remember that time a couple months ago you set fire to the whole house, pulled the fridge through the ceiling and made two calls across the skin all in like 24 hours and were totally fine?” Jeongin asked sassily, crossing his arms as he blocked Jisung’s path. “Because I remember and you didn’t even need a nap for that last bit.”

“What-” Woojin started, coming out of the room last after tidying up and noticing the mood.

Seungmin pointed to Jisung’s head, looking done with the conversation as he leaned into Hyunjin’s arm around his shoulders. The three of them were standing in a wall of judgement between Jisung and the exit like the popular kids did at Jisung’s old school. Jisung wondered if they were the popular kids at their school. From the sounds of it Hyunjin was but surely nobody looked at Seungmin and thought ‘he’s cool’. If they didn’t live together Jisung probably wouldn’t be friends with any of them. Jeongin maybe, because he was cute and fun to baby, but Jeongin probably wouldn’t let him close enough to try if they were in different years. The thought made him sad. At least he would have Felix because Felix was friendly with everyone. And Changbin, because of Felix. And then everyone, because of Felix. He missed Felix.

“Ah. Fuck.” Woojin said eloquently, startling Jisung out of his daydream. “Sungie, you should have said you weren’t feeling well.”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Jisung emphasised. “Ok, maybe my hair isn’t blue but honestly it’s about time I learnt to stop leaking magic out my head. And I lived like fifteen years without magic, one day without it now isn’t going to kill me.”

“I think we should skip ice cream and head home,” Woojin said, completely ignoring Jisung’s very valid points.

“Eh, slow down there, Hyung,” Seungmin held up his hands. “You have a forfeit to take.”

“You can feed me gross ice cream another time, Minnie,” Woojin said, taking Minho away from Jisung and setting him back on his feet. “Sungie, have you had enough to drink?”

“I’m fine, Hyung,” Jisung said crossly. “I want ice cream. Let’s just go.”

“I’m phoning Chan,” Woojin decided, pulling out his phone. “Sung, go sit on that bench.”

“I’m fine, Hyung,” Jisung grumbled but let Hyunjin manhandle him onto the bench. This was ridiculous. He becomes more normal and _suddenly_ everyone’s worried about him.


	19. I forgot my gauntlet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got my final exams at the end of this month (online. whoop.) so updates might be sporadic. or they might be really frequent because learning is boring.
> 
> also i feel like this is kinda too late for this kind of warning but blood and needles is mentioned at the end of the chapter. not in any detail though

“Home time,” Woojin said firmly after he was done panicking Chan. “We’re getting a taxi.”

Jisung rolled his eyes. “Great. So Channie-hyung can needlessly worry over me too,” he grumbled. "No thank you."He made no move to get up or let Minho jump down from his lap. He had been stewing in his feelings of injustice for the last ten minutes and he wasn’t going to go home without a fight.

"Sung. Your magic had disappeared very quickly." Woojin said reasonably. "Yes, it might be nothing a balanced meal and a good nap can't fix. Or, you could be seriously ill." Woojin paused to check Jisung was listening. He was. He just didn't agree with what Woojin was saying. Since when has being a normal human been dangerous?

"I know I'm not your Dad," Woojin continued. " But I love you too much to let you make your own decisions when your life may be on the line like this. I've already had one scare this week, please don't make it a second."

"Sorry," Jeongin whispered off to the side.

"I'm still not going home," Jisung said. It's not like eating ice cream was a taxing activity and he'd barely been allowed out of the house in weeks. He was going to make the most of not tasting fizzy while he could.

"Jisung," Woojin growled, reaching the end of his patience.

Minho pulled back in initial surprise before leaning out of Jisung's lap to growl back cutely.

"'Grr,' to you too," Woojin smiled and picked Minho up as if he weighed nothing. He pressed their noses together and growled gently to get Minho to imitate him again. They were adorable or whatever. Even the noraebang ajumma was looking softly at them from behind the counter. "Can you get this silly boy to go home?" Woojin asked Minho. "He doesn't like listening to me."

"Sungie go home," Minho said vaguely in Jisung's direction.

"Don't want to," Jisung replied. It was pretty low of Woojin to bait him with Minho. "Don't you want ice cream, Min?'

"Want Sungie to feel better."

"I feel _fine_ ," Jisung said exasperatedly.

"You don't _look_ fine," Hyunjin commented.

"Fuck you, Jinnie," Jisung said, smiling threateningly at him.

"Language."

"Unfuck him, then" Jisung rolled his eyes.

"You know that's not what I meant," Woojin sighed.

" _Sorry_ , I forgot my gauntlet to formally challenge him to a duel,” Jisung said sarcastically.

“Next time,” Hyunjin said with a grin.

“I know where Channie-hyung keeps the swords,” Jisung offered.

“Hyung has swords?” Seungmin asked excitedly.

“He better not,” Woojin said under his breath. He had Minho in one arm while he frowned down at his phone. “Taxi is here.”

“I’m not-”

“Yeah, it’s not a suggestion anymore.” Woojin smiled, pulling Jisung up by his elbow. “InMinJin, march.”

“April!” Hyunjin said as he led the way out the door.

“May!” Jeongin joined in.

“August!” Seungmin yelled, barely pausing to bow to the ajumma at the desk as he ran after them.

“That’s not next, Seungminnie!!” Minho called after him. “It’s June next!”

“Time is a social construct!” Seungmin reminded him from half way up the stairs.

“Sorry about them,” Woojin apologised to the ajumma. “Thank you for having us.”

"Are you on babysitting duty for the holidays?" The ajumma asked with a dimpled knowing smile.

"Babysitting?" Woojin asked and then his eyes lit up with understanding. _"Ah,_ no. I wish I was being paid for this. They're my kids."

The ajumma frowned at him and then at Jisung, who was trapped with Woojin's hand clamped to his arm.

"Foster kids," Woojin added hurriedly. "They're adopted, obviously. I'm gay." He laughed nervously and dragged Jisung out the door. "Bye!"

"We're not going back there for the next 100 years," Woojin said under his breath one they'd reached the street.

"You're silly, Woojin-ah-hyung," Minho giggled, patting Woojin on the cheek. Woojin passed him off to Hyunjin as they all piled into the taxi.

"What happened?" Seungmin asked, leaning forward from the rear seats.

"Hyung gay panicked," Jisung informed him smugly. “Or like anti-gay panicked. The ajumma thought we were his biological kids and he just blurted out that he was gay.” The cackles from the trio were validating.

“Do I look straight?” Woojin asked, twisting to look back at them from the front seat as the taxi pulled out into the traffic. “Honestly.”

“You give off a gay vibe, Hyung,” Jeongin said encouragingly. “Especially wearing those shorts like that.”

Woojin preened.

“Expensive gay vibes,” Hyunjin concurred.

“You do have an appearance associated with homosexuals, sir,” the driver added, glancing quickly at Woojin.

“Good. You’re getting a tip just for that answer” Woojin answered. “Have I given you the address?”

***

“Channie-hyuuuung!” Hyunjin said, crashing into the shop. “Woojinnie-hyung gave the taxi driver a tip becuase he said Hyung looked gay!”

“He did _what_?” Chan replied, helping Hyunjin stand and looking sharply to Woojin.

“Not like that,” Woojin said, crossing the shop to press a kiss to Chan’s lips even though Chan’s frown remained. “The noraebang ajumma thought they were my biological kids so I was just checking in the car that I wasn’t accidentally-”

“You idiot,” Chan said softly, interrupting him with another kiss. “ _I_ know you’re gay. Why does anybody else’s opinion matter?”

“He doesn’t want people thinking we’re related!” Jisung butted in before they got all mushy and gross.

“Oh, Sungie. You’re looking pale,” Chan said, now frowning at him. Jisung suddenly wished his attention was back on Woojin.

“I’m fine!” Jisung held out his hands to ward him off. “I only came home because Hyung bullied me not because I’m ill.”

“Are you sure?” Chan asked. “Who’s human? Innie- check his temperature.”

“He’s seems ok,” Jeongin reported with his palm held flat against Jisung’s forehead. “Shouldn’t you use a thermometer or something?”

“I only have a mercury one,” Chan said. “They’ve decided that’s bad now. If he’s about the right temperature it’s best not to risk it.”

“ _Hyung_ , you said you got rid of that,” Changbin said worriedly. “Where is it?”

“Sorry Bin, I forgot,” Chan replied distracted. “Bathroom cupboard.”

Changbin hurried off, muttering angrily to himself.

“Ok, no magic and tired. Those are your only symptoms?” Chan asked after having got Jisung to sit down at the table in the shop. The others were all gathered around in curiosity.

“Can I not just go nap?” Jisung asked. The tiredness can become noticeable now that the questions had gotten repetitive.

Chan worried at his lip. “I’d rather you didn’t until either BM or Mina replied to my texts. Bin, can you get me a sterile knife thing?”

Changbin raised an eyebrow but went to get something from his workshop.

“A _knife_?” Hyunjin exclaimed. “Are you going to cut Sung open?”

“Worse,” Chan replied with a grin. “I’m going to drink his blood. Can someone flip the sign?”

***

Chan had reconsidered and they’d moved their sketchy medical procedure upstairs. Changbin set up a tiny burner on the table and dipped a pointy, stabby-looking tool into some soju before burning the alcohol off and handing it to Chan. Before Jisung even had a chance to be worried about it Chan had pricked his finger and was squeezing a few drops of blood onto his own palm. Woojin quickly had a plaster covering the wound. Doraemon. Nice.

“What’s the point of this?” Jeongin asked.

“I’ll be able to taste if his magic is actually gone or if he just can’t use it,” Chan said. He brought his hand up to his face and wrinkled his nose before licking the blood timidly. “No magic,” he announced before swigging from the soju.

“Do me! Do me!” Minho called excitedly, holding out his hand. “Do I have the magics?”

“You do have magic in your blood,” Chan said. “The Curse is magic, remember.”

“We _think_ he’s still got the Curse,” Seungmin said. “Sung didn’t actually check.”

“Can you blame me?” Jisung muttered. He’d fucked up enough that day.

“Taste my blood, Channie-hyung!” Minho jumped up and down excitedly.

“Ok, ok,” Chan placated him. “Sit still and let Binnie clean the needle.”

“If my mother could see me now,” Changbin said, re-sterilising the stabby tool with a steady hand. “I’d be hauled home and put on dish duty for a month.”

“For what crime?” Hyunjin asked, propping his chin on his hand.

“Do you want the list alphabetised?” Changbin retorted, handing the stabby tool to Chan. “I’m only allowed to stay with Channie-hyung ‘cause he’s ‘vegan’.” Changbin made air quotations and rolled his eyes. “Pretty sure this goes against what she wanted for me on a couple of counts.”

Minho’s eyes widened as he took in all this new knowledge and Chan used the distraction to prick his finger. Chan licked the first drop of blood that fell and his eyes widened.

“What?” Woojni asked warily. Chan shook his head and gestured for the soju. He gargled it and then stuck out his tongue in distaste. “It’s not _that_ bad,” Woojin said.

“Give me a minute,” Chan replied crossly. His tone immediately softened as he turned back to the 5-year old. “Min, I need a little more blood. Is that ok?” Minho nodded and held his finger up to Chan’s mouth. Chan caught his hand before he could get too close to his fangs and let the blood drip slowly onto his hand again.

“Is he going to get drunk on the toddler?” Seungmin whispered loudly.

Chan ignored him but Woojin was watching his boyfriend closely, tensed to step in if needed. Jisung felt reassured and worried by that at the same time.

After what felt like forever, Chan determined he had enough blood and licked it off his hand, coating his tongue. From the way his head tilted Jisung figured he’d found what he was looking for. Chan finished off the soju as Minho got a matching plaster to Jisung.

“Well?” Seungmin asked impatiently.

Chan set down the empty bottle with a sigh. “I found Sungie’s magic.”


	20. BOOM

Chan set down the empty bottle with a sigh. “I found Sungie’s magic.”

“Where?” Minho asked excitedly.

“Oh, this is _bad_ ,” Changbin commented at the same time.

‘Bad’ was an understatement. Jisung could barely control his magic in his own body. In the hands of a five-year old they were all going to die. And it’s not like he could get his magic back because he had _no magic_ to do that with.

“Where?” Minho asked again, this time with more urgency.

“It’s in you, Min,” Woojin told him gently. “Somehow,” he added in a bewildered whisper.

“I have magic!” Minho cackled. He held out his hand, palm facing forward, towards Hyunjin across the table from him. “BOOM!”

Thankfully, nothing happened.

“Witches can’t transfer magical powers,” Chan said in a low tone so Minho wouldn’t pay attention. The boy was too busy trying to blow up Hyunjin anyway. “Sung can’t have given Min his magic,” he reasoned. Jisung was glad Chan sounded so sure. If he’d managed that by accident he might officially be the worst witch in history. Ex-witch in history?

“Witches also can’t de-age someone and Sung kinda did that already,” Changbin pointed out. He made a swift descent to the bottom of Jisung’s Favourite Brother list for that unwelcome application of logic.

“Right.” Chan frowned, stumped for the time being.

Jisung turned to watch Minho. At least he seemed to be having a good time despite all the magic coursing through his blood. _He’s probably used to it,_ Jisung though. He’d manually pumped Minho’s blood enough times for it to be a familiar feeling and being born with the Curse Minho wasn’t even aware of that magic. Jisung had tried various blocking spells on it before to no avail. He’d quickly given up though and the only recent attempt was the failed curse-break that led to this whole disaster. That was also the last spell Jisung had gone near Minho with.

“I haven't done any magic on Min since I de-aged him,” Jisung pointed out to the others as he realised. “And I still had magic after that because I called Felix over a day later. So I _can’t_ have given him my magic.”

Changbin looked doubtful. “It’s not like Min found it on the floor,” he mumbled.

“Lix?” Minho asked, looking up expectantly from his battle with Hyunjin. (Hyunjin was pretending to die after every ‘blast’ only to spring back to life again.)

“Lix is still away, sweetie,” Chan told him. “He’ll be back soon.”

Minho wrinkled his nose at that but turned his attention back to Hyunjin.

“Ok,” Seungmin said seriously. “The timeline is 1) Sung de-aged Min. 2) Sung called Felix. 3) Sung gave his magic to Min?”

“I didn’t give him my magic,” Jisung said. “I’m not _that_ bad of a witch that I can’t tell when I’m doing magic. The last magic I did was to call Lix.”

“So- 1) You de-aged Min and gave him magic. 2) You called Lix. 3) You lost your magic... somehow?” Seungmin said skeptically. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Sense is already pretty far out the window,” Jeongin muttered. Hyunjin was dramatically draped across his shoulder from his latest death. Jeongin shrugged him off and Hyunjin jumped back to alertness.

“Noooo!” Minho called. “Hyunjinnie BOOM!”

“Is he trying to kill Hyunjin?” Chan asked Woojin quietly behind his back. “Shouldn’t we stop him just in case?”

Woojin shrugged but gently lowered Minho’s hand. “How about we try something else, Min. Why don’t you try and lift the soju bottle?” Minho reached out for it but Woojin held him still. “With the magic,” he prompted. "Concentrate _really_ hard and try and lift it with the magic.”

Minho held his breath and went red from the effort.

“That’s not how it works,” Jisung scoffed. If anybody was going to teach Minho magic it was him. “Min.”

Minho finally remembered to breathe. “Yes, Sungie?”

“Remember what my magic feels like from when I used to put it through your blood?”

“Yes, Sungie’s magic is cozy!” Minho grinned. He hugged his arms to his chest.

“I disagree,” Hyunjin muttered, cuddling into Jeongin’s side comfortably now he no longer had to play dead. Jeongin pulled a face but let him stay this time.

“Can you feel the coziness now?” Jisung asked Minho, ignoring that statement. It was probably merited considering Hyunjin’s most major encounter with his magic involved him being pulled through the floor onto a smoldering couch.

“Mmmhmm,” Minho replied. “Been cozy for _ages._ ”

Jisung’s wide eyes met Seungmin’s across the table. “How long is ages, Min?” he asked lightly.

“Hmmm,” Minho reached for the burner and Changbin hastily moved it out of his reach. “Ages.” He eventually decided.

“Min, do you remember when I came home and got you to wear Channie’s funny hoodie?” Woojin tried. He had had some sort of thought but Jisung couldn’t follow what.

“Channie-hyung’s slutty streak,” MInho recounted.

Chan held his head in his hands. “Of course that’s the bit you remembered.”

“Were you cold before I gave you Channie’s hoodie?” Woojin continued. “Your feet were very cold, do you remember that?”

“Wasn’t cold.” Minho said. “Can I wear the slutty streak again?”

Changbin’s giggle hit him so hard he fell off his chair and it echoed around the room from the floor.

“Stake me now,” Chan muttered. “Don’t say that Min. It’s not called that. It’s just a hoodie.”

“Slutty hoodie?” Minho asked, blinking his eyes innocently.

“Are you doing this on purpose?” Chan asked, losing his cool for a second.

Minho cackled, the innoncent facade cracking in an instant and slapped his hands against the tabletop in glee.

“I’m disowning you,” Chan said sharply, his glower having zero effect on Minho.

“Nuh uh!” Minho crowed. “You don’t disown anybody. Not even Sungie!”

“I would,” Chan countered. “But the shop I got Jisung in shut down so I can’t get a refund.” It was an old joke and Chan only used it on the kids with the emotional security to laugh at it. He’d never said it to Hyunjin, Seungmin or Felix and Jisung couldn’t recall a single time Jeongin had been on the receiving end either. “The shop I got you from though,” Chan said to Minho, “is open 24/7. Be nice to me.”

“Maybe,” Minho replied, grinning.

(The flower shop Chan found Jisung in _had_ closed down. However, it had been a rather spontaneous event approximately five minutes before Chan arrived at the scene as all the roses simultaneously exploded and the owner decided flower arranging wasn’t the peaceful profession they had once thought it was. It was presumed by the other customers present that the small boy unconscious on the floor had fainted from the shock of close proximity to the chaos and while it hadn’t been the main cause, the suddenness certainly hadn’t helped the situation. Jisung had been back to that building since then and it now housed significantly bigger spiders than the one that had started it all but they were all kept securely behind glass. The pet shop also had lizards which ate spiders so he wouldn’t mind being refunded if he got to work with them.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did no work all afternoon and evening. getting out of my writers block on this fic was a mistake


	21. How may I hinder you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Taehyung is J.Seph from KARD, not from BTS. BTS have already been established as idols that Minho used to backup dance for)

Chan’s phone rang before he could decide whether putting Minho in the corner would improve or deteriorate the situation. Chan winced at the screeching emanating from the device and threw it across the room but thankfully Seungmin caught it before it hit the wall.

“Bang Chan’s phone,” he answered chirpily. “How may I hinder you?”

“Minnie, no,” Chan groaned, weakly reaching for it. 

“Yes,” Seungmin said cheerily in answer to the caller, completely ignoring Chan. “I’m Seungmin, the brains of the family.” He paused and hummed encouragingly along with whatever the person was saying. Chan knelt on his chair to get more distance but Seungmin just leaned his chair back onto two legs, grasping Jeongin’s shoulder for support. “Yes. The situation has... progressed somewhat. Channie-hyung did a taste test and Jisung’s magic has migrated to Min’s body. He says- ….Yes. Yes, that’s probably best. Come around the back to the flat door. Ok, see you soon. Bye.”

“Care to share, Minnie?” Chan asked as his phone was returned. 

“The people from yesterday are coming. BM? And the witch lady.”

“Terra does love me after all,” Jisung sighed as some of the overwhelming pressure eased. He flopped onto the table, cold and solid against his pounding headache. “I’m going to nap, Noona can fix everything.”

“Just stay awake a little bit longer, Sungie,” Chan said nervously. “Just in case.”

“I’m not dying Hyung, I’m napping,” Jisung mumbled into hardwood. “Naps are good.”

“I’ll nap too!” Minho announced and thumped down onto the table as well. His breathing was loud in Jisung’s ear but he didn’t lift his head.

“Ok, fine,” Chan allowed, probably happy to be getting a break from Minho. “Just until BM arrives. Seungminnie, when….”

Jisung blinked awake again to a hand gently rubbing circles on his back. “Up, Sungie,” Chan said quietly.

“‘M awa’” Jisung slurred, sitting up. The room was fuller, with BM, Somin and Jiwoo being given seats as InMinJin started stacking on top of one another and Woojin pulled Minho back into his lap. Hyunjin smiled contentedly as he got the excuse to hug two boys close at one time.

“-ung is parking the car,” BM was saying. “Is this street metered?”

_Wow, adults could really make even an interesting situation boring._

“Hi, Jisung,” Somin said warmly, as Woojin answered BM with something about parking zones. “How are you?”

“Tired,” Jisung answered her honestly. He didn’t know Somin well but she had a caring tone to her voice that Jisung heard often from Chan and it made him feel safe. “I gave my magic to Min. Can you get it back for me? Or like, just take it out of Min. I don’t really want it back.”

Somin smiled sympathetically. “You’ve had a hard time lately with your magic but it’s not all that bad. Also, unless you’ve broken the laws of the universe you haven’t given your magic to Minho.”

“I really hope I haven’t,” Jisung winced. That sounded like just the kind of shit he would manage to do.

Jiwoo laughed kindly. “You’re something else, kid.”

“Did you try and re-age him?” Somin asked.

“No! That’s the thing!” Jisung exclaimed, energised by his indignation. _Finally,_ there was someone who would get it. “The last magic I did on Min de-aged him. I’ve not even touched him with it since _but_ I skinsang Felix- he’s another one of Chan-hyung’s adoptees- last night and that used a tonne of magic. And my hair didn’t go completely brown until we went to karaoke this morning so I definitely still had magic until then. And Min knows what my magic feels like and he says he’s been feeling it this whole time so he didn’t get it from me and-”

“Breathe.” Jiwoo said, eyes wide with concern. “Dios, kid. You’ve got to relax.” She was wearing the big hooped earrings from the other day, paired with a whole row of tiny ones. Jisung wished he could pull something like that off but he’d only been brave enough to get his ears pierced once and stuck to the simple designs Changbin allowed him to steal.

“I’m fine!” Jisung assured her. He felt better already, knowing Somin would believe him. She could sort all this and he could get a proper nap without someone hovering over him like he was going to drop dead any second.

“Out of interest, Jisungie,” Somin started. _Oh no. It was never good when a question started like that_. “The spell you used to de-age Minho, did you end it?”

“I stopped it,” Jisung said, frowning. “That’s why Min is five. I stopped it just in time.”

“Yes, you stopped it,” Somin agreed, “but did you end it? Did you cut off your magic completely?”

“I...think?” Now Jisung was doubting himself. Ending the spell properly hadn’t been high on his priorities at the time.

“I think you might have created-”

“ _Taehyung-hyung?!”_ Woojin exclaimed loudly, cutting off their conversation as Somin’s friend entered quietly from the top of the stairs. Taehyung jumped slightly in shock and looked around for the source of the outburst.

“Kim Pack?” Jisung heard him say to himself, searching through the new faces. _“Woojinnie?”_

“You know each other?” BM asked excitedly, beckoning Taehyung over to where he was wedged between Woojin and Chan.

“We’re cousins,” Woojin said absently, not taking his eyes off of Taehyung. When Taehyung reached him they clasped hands for a long moment before Taehyung leant back against the wall.

“You’ve really grown, huh Woojinnie?” Taehyung said. “You were such a skinny momma’s boy I never thought you’d leave the pack.”

Wojin blushed profusely. “I was still a kid, Hyung. A lot has happened since then.”

“I can see that.” Taehyung grinned. “Left the pack, moved to _Seoul,_ married a _vampire-.”_

“We’re not married,” Woojin cut him off.

“You just live together with..” Taehyung paused for a fast headcount. “Six kids.”

“Seven,” Woojin corrected. “Felix is in the Fae Realm.” 

_“Seven kids,_ ” Taehyung amended. “And not a single one is a werewolf. I bet your mum took that well.”

Jeongin squirmed on Hyunjin’s lap and Woojin laughed hollowly. “Oh yeah, she loved it,” Woojin said sarcastically. “She’s convinced Channie has me brainwashed.”

“She threatened to murder Channie-hyung,” Changbin added. “Actually no it was worse- she was going to get someone else to murder him.”

“Why is that worse?” Seungmin wanted to know.

“You can’t claim someone else’s skill is your own merit,” Changbin said. “The threat wasn’t even personal.”

“It was pretty personal,” Jeongin argued. “It was a signed death threat delivered to our house,”

Changbin sighed dramatically. “Nevermind. Humans don’t understand.” Seungmin’s spine straightened as he opened his mouth. “Fae are worse,” Changbin added before he could speak. “You think everything is transferable.”

“At least we talk to each other,” Seungmin shot back.

“Enough!” Chan said loudly. “No racism at the dinner table.”

“We’re not eating dinner,” Seungmin pointed out. 

“Is this or is this not the dinner table, Kim Seungmin,” Chan said sternly. Seungmin wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Exactly,” Chan said. That was the end of that argument. “If you want to go discuss your opposing cultures you can do it in your rooms.”

“No,” Seungmin sulked, crossing his arms. He was probably annoyed he’d been outwitted for once.

BM’s loud laughter rang through the room. “You’ve got quite the handful here, Chris,” he commented. 

“You’ve not even met Felix,” Chan sighed. “He has a heart of gold but also a 4 metre wingspan and an inability to stay out of other people’s business.”

“Did you say wings?” Jiwoo asked.

“Yeah, he has wings,” Chan sighed. 

“I miss Lix,” Seungmin said pointlessly. Everyone missed Felix- that was a given.

“ _Same,”_ Changbin said with feeling. His lower lip jutted out in a pout and Minho reached over to poke it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> skz: its an emergency!  
> also skz: gets distracted


	22. Gone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First: to the three people that noticed I posted this on the wrong fic- I am very sorry for the whiplash and thank you for letting me know. This is why you should write one fic at a time kids
> 
> Second: to the people who offered to beta read (and there were a lot of you. damn) thank you very much for offering your time and energy. I have a beta reader now for that one but I will note your usernames for if I do that again
> 
> Thirdly: this chapter... is un beta read. So I apologise if I lose you in the middle.
> 
> Fourth: thank you for your patience. Enjoy?

“Ok,” Somin’s voice was sharp and it caught everyone’s attention. Well, almost everyone. Jisung heard the word and recognised her timbre but if asked to point in her direction he wouldn’t know where it came from or actually, where his own hand was. Presumably, at the end of his arm but arms? Where were they in relation to his consciousness? Was his consciousness actually in his head? A weight pushed down on his legs and that helped. He could at least locate his legs now.

“Jisungie?” Minho asked, so close Jisung nearly had to go cross-eyed to see him. “Do you need sugar?”

“Ah shit. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” Chan said from… somewhere. A bottle was shoved into his hands. “Can you drink, Sung?” Chan sounded worried. Why was he worried?

“Yeah,” Jisung replied. He knew where his hand was now the cold bottle was touching it and let it lift on muscle memory in the hope it could locate his mouth. It did and he sucked on the top of the bottle. A burst of bright energy filled his mouth and he swallowed it automatically, rediscovering more body parts as he did so.

Minho was in his lap. That made sense. Everyone was staring at him. That made less sense but it wasn’t a surprise. He couldn’t seem to go one day without freaking everyone out these days. Chan wiped sweat from Jisung’s brow with his sleeve.

“Did you not notice?” he asked gently.

“I didn’t do any magic,” Jisung said, bewildered. “And my core is active- why would it use my blood sugar?”

“You’ve been running a spell for three days, Jisung,” Somin told him gently, leaning across the table. “I _tried_ to tell you earlier but _someone_ -”

“I’m sorry!” the new guy said, holding up his hands. What was his name? “You weren’t acting like it was an emergency and- yep, I’ll shut up.”

“You’ve been draining your magic very quickly,” Somin said with a note of urgency, though she was still smiling supportively. “There are different theories about how it generates but from your reaction I’m going to guess that even core magic is linked to metabolism.”

“What?” Jisung asked weakly. Being homeschooled by himself or Chan meant that he’d skipped a lot of the theory and magically background for the fun stuff- like how to make a fireball. His magic’s tendency to result in fire might have stemmed from that particular bad decision...maybe.

“You need to end this spell now, Jisung,” Somin said seriously. “I can transfer you some of my magic to help but if yours runs dry the spell will run off whatever energy you have until you’re gone.”

“Gone?” Seungmin asked in a horrified whisper.

“Dead.” Jisung said flatly. There was no point in saying it nicely and surely that’s what Somin meant. “Until I’m dead. What do I have to do, Noona?”

“You took that well,” Somin said in surprise.

“I feel like I’m about to pass out,” Jisung said, holding Minho tightly on his lap. It was an understatement. He already had double vision and his hearing felt like it was coming through a tunnel. Chances were he was about to do a lot worse than pass out “What do I have to do?”

“Umm,” Somin looked slightly frazzled. “If you can follow the flow of your magic, find the point it is flowing out and sever it fully. The natural path is through your hands so if you’re touching Minho-”

“Yup.” Jisung closed his eyes to focus. He didn’t have time. Thankfully he was well-practiced at following his magic where he couldn’t see it. Ironically, he was most practiced at following it into Minho. Hopefully that would make things easier. He spread his focus through his body, expected to catch the bright tingle of magic. There weren't any. Of course- that was the problem in the first place. He focused on his hands. If the magic was leaving from there then surely he’d catch some of it. Nothing. His heart started to race. Where the fuck was it? He checked his head. Nothing. Where else was there?

The memory of Minho’s curse, bright and fast, came to mind. It came from Minho’s soul, so maybe his magic was the same. He focused on his heart, frantically beating in his chest. There was the faintest ghost of magic. He’d never actually _found_ someone’s soul as far as he knew- his own or otherwise... Except he’d _deaged_ Minho and that kind of thing didn’t spark from touching someone’s heart, no matter how much you were in love with them. _Minho_. His magic was in Minho, so surely..

It should have taken more effort to cross into Minho’s body. Wait, more than effort, it should have taken _magic_ but he hadn’t found any in his own body and now he was feeling Minho’s and it was _alive_ with magic. Terra, there was so much of it that it had to burn. Jisung ‘grabbed’ on to some of his own magic as it was flying past and instantly felt a little more alert. It was _everywhere_. How was Minho coping? It was like how Jisung felt when he lost control of his core except there was a direction to it, pulling him further the way he had come. He had to stop it. Had to stop this tide of magic leaving him and burning Minho up.

 _“STOP!”_ he screamed in his mind in Fae. Anything to get the magic to listen to him. “ _Stop the spell. End it. Please._ ” His magic didn’t listen, pushing him further into Minho’s body. “ _Stop_ ,” Jisung begged it, pushing back. He grabbed as much of the magic as it passed him and felt his strength return. He started to become aware of all of it again, not just the tiny spot he was focused in. The magic was pouring from his soul straight to Minho’s, bypassing his body entirely. Once it reached Minho it spread out, acting in every cell and being used up in seconds. That was why it was taking so much energy. Jisung pulled it back against the spell.

 _“STOP,”_ he commanded. _“Go back.”_ It didn’t listen. Slowly he made his way back to his own body against the tide, pulling as much magic back with him as he could. It was slippery and kept escaping his grip to complete the spell and he had to pick up more as it passed to replace it. Eventually he crossed. Minho’s soul to his own. It wasn’t a physical barrier like when he crossed from his hand to Minho’s or even when he pushed a spell into a crystal. Instead, it was like the widest space he’d ever been. A feeling, an emotion, more than a structure. A feeling he’d never felt before. That feeling was Minho, completely, until it wasn’t. And then it was neither him nor Minho and then it was entirely his own. And then he was back in his own body. The flow of magic was obvious now. How had he not noticed such a torrent of energy leaving him for days? He stood in the torrent and felt it’s intent. The spell was compelling it to go to Minho and Jisung _simply took that compulsion away_. The moment he did, the torrent spread out like a river meeting the sea and Jisung floated on it as he felt his strength stabilise. It was done. His magic was staying in his own body.

It took Jisung too long to remember his body’s function, to remember the outside world, his family, his life. With a lot of effort he stopped riding the magic and focused, pulling his consciousness back together until he could open his eyes. Minho was staring back.

“You’re gone,” he said sadly. Jisung sighed in relief.

“I’m not gone,” Jisung told him, hugging Minho tightly. He was shaking. “I’m right here. I’m sorry, Min. Did it hurt you? Are you ok?” Minho shook his head against Jisung’s neck.

“Felt funny and now it’s cold. But it doesn’t hurt,” Minho mumbled, clenching his fists in Jisung’s t-shirt.

“Ok,” Jisung breathed out. He spread his palm against Minho’s back and felt the warmth and the rise of his ribcage. He was alive. They were both alive. “Ok.”

“You ended the spell?” Somin asked and _Terra_ there were other people in the room. Whoops.

“Yeah. Yeah, I got it back.” Jisung said shakily. “It’s ok. I’m ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. Let me know how that worked for you


	23. They just like alliteration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Learning science- bad  
> Writing fanfic- good

“Good job, Sungie,” Chan said, pulling him into his side and placing a kiss on his hair. “I’m proud of you.” Jisung felt pretty dazed, both tired and also renewed with energy. He just stared across the table to the anxious pile that was InMinJin and let it happen. Jeongin smiled nervously as they locked eyes and Jisung smiled back. Probably. His mouth twitched at least.

“Do you mind if I check you both for magic?” Somin asked quietly. “Just to be sure.” Jisung held out his hand. She could set him on fire at this point for all he cared. However, Minho shrunk back into Jisung’s chest.

“Only Sungie,” he said petulantly.

Across from them, Seungmin’s eyebrows rose. “Father wasn’t too wrong then,” Jisung thought he heard him say. It didn’t surprise Jisung in the slightest that Seungmin still had secrets but it hurt a bit for them to be related to Minho. Jisung thought they’d all been forthcoming about their knowledge in order to break Minho’s curse. If Seungmin had held back something important and risked Minho’s life Jisung was going to kill him.

“Just quickly, Min.” Woojin bargained with Minho from the other end of the table. “Somin-noona isn’t going to do anything to you. She’s just going to look to see if you still have any of Sungie’s magic.”

“No!” Minho said and reached over Jisung’s arm to Chan- away from where Somin was lightly holding Jisung’s wrist. Chan took him and bounced him on his knee, trying to get a smile. Minho continued to frown.

“You seem fine,” Somin told Jisung as she pulled her hand away. “No magic flowing out to anywhere it shouldn’t be.”

“Thanks, Noona,” Jisung told her. “For everything. I’m sorry we had to call you so urgently.”

“It’s not a problem,” Somin smiled. She’d been remarkably calm through everything and Jisung aspired to one day be like that. He had a horrible feeling that calmness came from experience though. “It’s a shame we didn’t meet earlier,” Somin added. “Maybe I could have prevented this.”

“We’ll be around for a while though,” BM said. “And since there are _family connections_ I’m sure you’ll see us again. Next time can be a planned magical adventure.”

“They’ve still got to get Minho back to an adult,” Jiwoo pointed out. _Damn._ Jisung had forgotten about that bit.

“Later,” Somin said decidedly. “Rest, Jisung. You’ll still be low on magic for a while.” Jisung believed her. Not even chocolate milk could revive him right now. “Minho, are you sure I can’t check you for magic? I just checked Jisung. It won’t take long.”

Minho shook his head firmly. “Channie-hyung will eat me.”

“Chan will do what?” The new guy asked. _Taehyung_ \- his name was Taehyung. Taehyung-hyung?

“Eat my children as tasty pre-dinner snacks,” Chan said with a smile. When Taehyung still looked worried Woojin nudged him with an amused smile.

“Channie hates the taste of blood,” he told him. “Minho’s fine.”

“I knew that,” Taehyung said with an awkward laugh.

“You honestly thought I would bite him?” Chan asked. “I’m not that bad a Dad.”

“Bad Dad,” Jeongin said immediately.

“Bad Dad,” Hyunjin echoed him.

“Bad Dad,” Jisung joined in.

“Bad Dad!” Minho said gleefully.

“Bad Dad,” Seungmin grinned.

“Bad Dad.” Changbin handed Chan the stabby thing again, freshly heated to red hot and rapidly cooling.

“They just like alliteration,” Chan assured their onlookers, glaring good-naturedly at his kids. “I’m normally ‘Darktime Dad’ and Woojinnie is ‘Daytime Dad.’”

“Because you’re a vampire?” Jiwoo guessed.

“What?” Chan asked in confusion, holding Minho’s wrist firmly and peeling off the plaster covering the pinprick from his last blood sample. Minho watched him do it with interest. “No, because I have insomnia. I’m always up at night.” Chan glanced at BM and then back to Jiwoo. “I’m sure this is a needless warning but please resist the smell of my tastiest child when I make him bleed.”

Jiwoo snorted. “He’s safe, don’t worry.”

Chan pricked Minho’s finger again and repeated his technique from before to taste the blood. Woojin still had the first aid kit and Minho grudgingly allowed himself to be passed along the table via BM to get a fresh Doraemon plaster. Unfortunately, they didn’t have Soju left so Jisung offered the concentrated taste of artificial oranges from his energy drink instead. Chan carefully held the bottle away from him as he squirted it into his mouth and swirled the drink like mouthwash before handing it back.

“There’s an aftertaste of Sungie’s magic,” Chan reported. “But the curse is much stronger.”

“A full but balanced flavour,” Hyunjin mocked him, taking his hand off of Seungmin’s waist to gesture in the air pretentiously. “Notes of radical oppression with a hint of teenage brilliance.”

“You think I’m brilliant, Hyunjinnie?” Jisung asked deliriously, finishing off the energy drink. He was thirstier than he thought and made a mental note to ask Chan for more later.

“Brilliant but _so_ unstable,” Hyunjin replied. That was fair. It was a nicer assessment than Jisung would give himself.

“As much as I’d love to stay and catch up,” BM interrupted them before they went off on a tangent (he was learning), “you’ve all had a long day and at least Sungie should get some sleep. Let me know when you’ve got time to meet, Chris,” he said, standing up. His friends rose with him.

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Woojin offered, standing as well and passing Minho back to Chan.

“Oh! Time to interrogate the boyfriend!” BM joked, clapping Chan on the shoulder.

“Hyung, no,” Chan whined. He grabbed onto Woojin’s hand as he squeezed passed the back of his chair to hold him back. “Jinnie, tell him nothing.”

“What do you think is bad for me to tell him, huh?” Woojin laughed, quickly bending to press a kiss to Chan’s jaw. “Do you think you have secrets, Channie?”

BM was loving it and tugged Woojin free. “Yep, I’m definitely talking to you.”

“Do not give him The Talk, Hyung,” Chan called after them. “The kids did that already!”

“We _tried_.” Changbin said pointedly. “You kept running away with him, remember Hyung?” Changbin said.

“Annnd, we’re going to go before the next argument starts,” Jiwoo said. She and Somin hadn’t rushed off like the boys. “Nice to meet you,” she told InMinJin as they detangled to spread out onto their own chairs.

 _Ah, Hyunjin had shifted_ , Jisung thought, recognising the distinct sinuous movement. That explained how all three of them had sat on a single seat for so long. They bowed their heads in the girls’ direction as they seperated, mumbling the polite sentiment back.

“I hope to see you when you’re big again,” Jiwoo said to Minho, holding out a hand which he slapped with vicious force and a wild grin. Jiwoo grinned back, showing no sign of pain though Jisung would definitely have flinched at that.

“Jisungie will do it,” Minho said determinedly. He caught Jisung’s gaze and his face softened. “Later. When he’s not tired.”

“Later,” Jisung promised, nodding minutely. “I’ll get you back, Hyung.”

“And then I can dance!” Minho crowed. He really had a one-track mind.

“You dance?” Jiwoo asked curiously.

“ _Yes!_ ” Minho said excitedly. “I do _all_ the dancing.”

“He works at a dance academy,” Changbin explained proudly. “And before that he was a back-up dancer for BTS.”

“Oh!” Jiwoo almost seemed to be sizing Minho up. It was kind of a pointless endeavor when he was 3 and a half feet tall and padded with baby fat. Minho still did his best to sit up tall in Chan’s lap and stare back seriously.

“Girls, come on!” Taehyung’s call was faint from the front door. “Stop gossiping!”

“As if you’re any better, Oppa!” Somin yelled back. “We should go though,” she added at a normal volume. “Jisungie, message me if you want help with anything-”

“GIRLS!”

“Urgh,” Jiwoo groaned and sped down the stairs at vampiric speed. There was a faint petulant whine from the bottom of the stairs and it didn’t come from Jiwoo.

“I’ve got to go before there’s a catfight in your hall,” Somin said with a smirk. “See you all soon!”

“Bye, Noona!” they chorused and Chan then raised his voice to call cheekily.

“Get out of my house if you’re going to start a fight club, Hyung! We don’t have enough Doraemon plasters for that!”

“First rule of fight club, Christopher!” BM yelled back but the door shut and the noise downstairs quietened.

Woojin came back with a secretive smile and leaned on the back of Jeongin’s chair.

“Oh no.” Chan said, noticing his expression. “It was the other way around. What did he tell you?”

“Nothing much,” Woojin said airily.

“You know something about Channie-hyung’s past?” Changbin asked excitedly, turning around and kneeling up on his chair.

“I’ve heard some things,” Woojin replied, not taking his eyes off his boyfriend. “Are you scared, _Christopher?_ ”

“ _Yes!”_ Chan replied. “I used to work for the Council. I have a pretty questionable history.”

“He didn’t tell me anything bad, Channie,” Woojin assured him, dropping the teasing act. “Is it finally time for you nap, Sungie?” he asked, looking to Chan’s left. “You definitely deserve it now.” Jisung might look ready for a nap- knees pulled up to his chest and leaning on Chan’s arm next to him- but he was too wired for that now.

“I’m not sleepy,” he replied quietly. The magic was buzzing in his veins and now he’d learnt to recognise it’s source in his soul he couldn’t not be aware of it. Sleeping like that seemed impossible.

“Cuddles?” Woojin suggested. “Food?”

Jisung shook his head. He needed more space and less people staring at him. Even if those people were his family. “Can I get chocolate milk?” he asked. “And Channie-hyung?” he added hesitantly.

“Mmm?” Chan answered, adjusting Minho’s jumper.

“Can you dye my hair?”


	24. This is a work of art

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i dont know how to dye hair so there is a convenient scene break
> 
> in a bit of relief from writing 12 people in one room the last few chapters I have cut it to two here because Jisung will always be Chan's first kid even if hes not the youngest and they needed a moment

“Emo playlist?” Chan suggested, setting his phone up on the shelf above the sink so it wouldn’t get damaged. Jisung shrugged and Chan hit play. It wasn’t emo but the gentle ballads fitted his mood too so he didn’t complain. Jisung still shot Chan a glare for reading him so well though. Chan smiled and pulled out the bleach.

“Shouldn’t you be sectioning my hair?” Jisung asked as Chan started massaging the bleach into his hair.

“I will for the colour,” Chan replied. “This is a potion, not bleach. Jinnie found it online.”

“And you’re trying it out on me?” Jisung asked, trying to duck out of the way.

“No- _will you sit still, Sungie.”_ Chan clamped down on his head. “I’ve used it on Lix and myself. You’re safe.” He swept Jisung’s fringe up into a point. “Haha. Unicorn.”

“Do it properly,” Jisung grumbled.

“This is properly,” Chan said, moving further back on Jisung’s hair and making another spike. “It says on the bottle ‘Activate with your best dinosaur impression.’”

“Rawr,” Jisung said half heartedly.

“That’s your best dinosaur impression?” Chan said, pausing in his next spike creation to look at Jisung with disappointment. “I raised you better than that.”

“Well you’ve not done a very good job at making me a dinosaur,” Jisung groused. “How am I supposed to get into character looking like this?” He couldn’t actually see himself but he could imagine the five soapy peaks lined up along his head. 

“Ehhh, this is a work of art,” Chan argued before turning serious. “It actually says ‘rinse out after five minutes’ so we should probably do that now.” 

He washed his hands quickly in the sink before taking the showerhead off the wall and turning it on. Chan pointed the spray of water down the drain as it warmed before cupping the back of Jisung’s neck and helping him lean back. There was a familiarity to the action- Chan had done this several times before in failed attempts to dye his hair previously but also there was a faint memory of his mother washing shampoo from his hair this way too. He’d been chest-high in bubbles in a bath then so he must have been very small. The apartment they lived in for most of his childhood hadn’t even had a bath so it might even have been before he left Korea.

Chan’s hand was gentle as it washed out the suds, far gentler than Jisung ever was with his hair. When he washed close to Jisung’s face he even cupped his hand at Jisung’s hairline to stop the water getting in his eyes. He was always protecting Jisung. Even when that same hand was slamming against Jisung’s temple to knock him unconscious Chan was still protecting Jisung, protecting him from himself.

Jisung knew that he relied on Chan. He relied on Chan perhaps more than he wanted to for someone on the cusp of adulthood but in that moment it was nice to be looked after. At some point, probably relatively soon, he should move out and learn to stand on his own two feet. He would never learn to be independent otherwise. It was just too easy to call for Chan and have him come running to solve all Jisung’s problems. 

Just as he was trying to decide if Changbin and him had the life skills to survive together and whether he could convince Minho to move with them, Chan tapped lightly on the back of his head.

“All done, Sungie,” he said. “I don’t know if it was just because we use a potion this time but it’s not blue at all.”

Jisung sat up and tried to pull his fringe into view. It was _yellow._ “Obviously it wasn’t going to be blue,” Jisung retorted. “It wasn’t blue when you started.”

“I’m so used to seeing you with blue hair,” Chan said, putting the centre part back into Jisung’s wet hair. He took a step back so his back was pressed against the door and admired his work. “My baby is all grown up.”

“I’m the same age as I was this morning,” Jisung said, pursing his lips. “I’ve been growing up this whole time.”

“I know,” Chan said amicably. “Seeing you with light hair just made the change more obvious. Your chubby cheeks are disappearing,” he noted sadly.

“Good,” Jisung said firmly. “It makes me look like a little kid. Are you going to dye my hair or just stand there and pout at me, Hyung?”

“I’m _getting_ to it,” Chan replied and put his dyeing kit down on the toilet seat loudly. “You want to match Lix, right?”

***

“Use the toilet downstairs!” Chan called when there was a knock on the door. He was sitting against the door and Jisung sat on the toilet seat as they waited for the dye to soak into his hair. They could have moved to the living room for some comfier seats for half an hour but Jisung was happy in the security of their tiny bathroom and so they stayed. Conversation never dried up with Chan and they had just been discussing the logistics of cryopreservation. In all honesty, the sum total of Jisung’s knowledge came from a single five minute youtube video so he was quickly running out of arguments.

“I don’t need to pee,” a deep voice said through the door. “Can I still come in?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know if you have a subscription to this and you didn't get notified. there might be a bug


	25. Give them some privacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly thought 'deep voice' was the most cliched hint that it was felix i could. Sorry lads, its not minho hes still a tiny ball of terror

Chan nearly ripped the door off of its hinges in his scramble to get it open. Literally. Jisung heard a crack.

“ _Felix?_ ” Chan asked even though he was standing facing the boy.

“Um, yeah?” Felix replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “Did you not know I was back?”

Chan swept him up into a bone-crushing hug. Considering Felix’s bones were finer than the rest of them and Chan’s current disregard for his own strength, it was a real possibility that it might actually be bone-crushing.

“I wasn’t paying attention,” Chan breathed out. “I missed you.”

“I missed him more!” Jisung called out from behind him. “Stop hogging Lix. He’s _my_ twin.” Felix smiled at Jisung over Chan’s shoulder. His hands were held awkwardly out to the sides as he went limp and waited for Chan to let him go again.

“What colour are you dyeing your hair?” Felix asked and Jisung could kiss him for not asking about all the other shit that was clearly going on.

“Same as you,” Jisung said. “So we can be identical twins.”

“Not because it was the only colour in the house?” Felix teased. Chan had finally let him go and he leaned down to hug Jisung, worming as close as he could for maximum skin contact.

“Watch out!” Chan warned. “You’re going to get Sung’s dye all over you.”

“It’s the same colour,” Felix argued, knocking their heads together. “It’s not going to do anything.”

It did do something because while Jisung’s hair washed to nearly highlighter orange, Felix had been flying around in the sun for weeks and most of his hair had faded to strawberry blonde. By the time they remembered to wash the transferred dye out of Felix’s hair some had taken and he was left with bright patchy streaks on the right side of his head.

“I’ll just have to dye it another colour,” Felix said, not bothered by it. “Do you recommend blue, Sungie?”

“Anything but blue,” Jisung replied emphatically.

***

“Is the bathroom clean?” was the first thing Woojin said when they sat down late to dinner.

“Yugh,” Chan replied around a mouthful of food. He hadn’t even bothered to get a balance of ingredients and was eating mostly plain rice.

“Chan. If I get dye on another pair of jeans-”

“I’ll double check it after dinner.” Chan said quickly, swallowing in a gulp. “Promise.”

“Whipped,” Hyunjin coughed into his water.

“Speak for yourself,” Felix commented with a grin. Jisung froze and he wasn’t the only one. Felix had missed the tension after he left but Jisung had thought that someone had had the forethought to catch him up. Evidently not.

Hyunjin stayed relaxed though, and even let out a shy giggle.

“Called it,” Jeongin laughed and high-fived Seungmin.

“What’s happening?” Jisung whispered to Changbin subtly.

“I have no idea,” Changbin muttered back. He nudged Felix at his other side and stared wide-eyed at him when Felix turned.

“Oh.” Felix’s head whipped back around to the trio. “I’mreallysorryMinnie Ithoughtitwascommonknowledge, I _swear_.” Felix waved his hands in the air as his tongue tripped over the words.

“It’s fine, Lixie,” Seungmin said. “We bet you’d work it out before Jisung.”

“Work out what?” Jisung exclaimed. He was tired and not in the mood for Seungmin’s mind games. Especially when they were at his expense.

“Hyunjinnie likes Innie!” Minho crowed. He was supposed to be sitting on a cushion since he demanded not to be on anybody’s lap but he kept standing up to get the height advantage on his carrot strips. “He tried to kiss him when Innie gave him the bowl!”

“What now?” Chan asked suddenly, finally looking up from his food. “Since when? Hyunjinnie?” Well, at least Jisung and Changbin weren’t the only ones out of the loop.

“Since Innie got back,” Hyunjin said, stealing extra beef while everyone was distracted. “We were gonna tell you but then there was the whole Bear thing and then Sungie nearly died and it just wasn’t the right time.”

“Ok,” Chan took a deep breath. “You and- wait.” He turned slowly and narrowed his eyes at Woojin. “ _You knew about this_ ,” he said accusingly.

“Yes,” Woojin said calmly, failing to get Minho to sit back down. “It’s barely been a day Channie. Give them some privacy.”

“They share a _room_ ,” Chan said. “That’s too much privacy!”

“Are Innie and Hyunjinnie-” Minho started to ask but Woojin covered his mouth with a firm hand.

“We’re not going there,” Woojin said lightly. “And licking my hand will get you nowhere. Sit down and behave.” Minho screamed.

“I’m confused,” Changbin said quietly. “I thought Hyunjinnie didn’t like Innie and Minnie back.”

“Uh, yeah,” Hyunjin said, getting embarrassed. “Seungminnie taught me some things..”

“Terra, no,” Chan whined. “Not all three of you.”

“What else was going to happen?” Woojin said reasonably. He’d given up on getting Minho to sit but at least the boy was eating quietly again. Woojin turned to the three under fire. “Don’t worry, your father is very happy for you all. He’s just finally seeing the error of his ways for adopting so many teenage boys at once.”

“They were supposed to get into fights, not relationships!” Chan exclaimed.

“I’ve gotten into a lot of fights and no relationships,” Jisung pointed out.

“That you _know of_ ,” Felix muttered.

“What is _that_ supposed to mean?” Jisung asked, pushing Changbin back to peer around him. Felix blew him a kiss.

“No!” Changbin said, coming between them. “Lixie, what do I have to make you swear on so you stop meddling?”

“Promises don’t work on the fae,” Seungmin called from across the table. “It only delays the inevitable. We have a very different moral code.”

“You are tricky bastards,” Jeongin translated grumpily.

“Language,” Woojin said, as expected. At this point they would leave a gap in the conversation sometimes just to wait for him to say it.

“They are!” Jeongin argued. “I love them, really, but that’s the only word for it. ‘Dicks’, maybe if you wanted to be concise.”

“Felix isn’t a dick!” Changbin defended his boyfriend.

“I am a bit,” Felix allowed. “I hid the vegemite from Channie-hyung.”

“There’s vegemite?” Chan asked excitedly.

“Somewhere,” Felix replied, gesturing wildly to the house. “I also got a tonne of other shit. Turns out Seungminnie did destabilise the economy with his future conditional truth so I was basically a millionaire.”

“If one more person swears it will be more than vegemite that’s missing from Felix’s hoard,” Woojin threatened. “It is not that difficult to use civilised language.”

“Bitch!” Minho said very clearly, standing at the head of the table.

"I don't deserve this," Woojin mumbled to himself.


	26. What baby monkeys?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Throwback to the end of 'You're Adopted' when Seungmin defeated his father in a war of words. He's not the only Fae boy they should be wary of

“Bitch!” Minho said again, cackling.

“Right.” Woojin put down his chopsticks and pointed a finger at Minho. “You’re not getting a wagon wheel after dinner.”

Minho didn’t even know what he was missing considering he hadn't met them the last time Felix went to Australia and yet his face crumpled. Woojin stared in terror as Minho’s mouth slowly opened in a wail, tears welling quickly in his eyes.

“Chan, what do I do,” Woojin said quickly, hitting his boyfriend. “Chan!”

Chan stood and rounded the table to pull Minho into his arms. “Hey,” he said tenderly. “What’s all the fuss about?”

“Woojinnie-hyung is meeeean,” Minho wailed, clinging to the collar of Chan’s shirt. Seungmin muffled a laugh and Jeongin elbowed him though he too was smiling.

“You said a bad word though,” Chan said, bouncing Minho. “Woojinnie said not to say any more bad words and you did.”

“But F-felik said a bad word too, and Innie. And- and Bi-Bi-Bin-n-nie,” the sobs had made Minho’s speech almost unintelligible.

“Now I’m the bad guy,” Woojin said dejectedly.

“Only a little bit,” Chan told him quietly with a smile, still trying to calm Minho. “Min, you don’t even know what a Wagon Wheel is.”

“But I want it!” Minho cried and that started a fresh round of tears. Jisung kind of felt for him but also it _was_ pretty funny.

“Mood.” Hyunjin said and immediately ducked behind Seungmin as Chan fixed him with a glare over Minho’s head.

“Minho, Minho, Minho,” Chan sang liltingly. “You can’t get treats if you say bad words.”

“But _you_ say bad words,” Minho replied, wiping his face on Chan’s shoulder. Chan pulled a face. “You said ‘shit’.” As soon as the word left Minho’s mouth he hid from Woojin behind Chan’s neck.

“I might have said that, yes,” Chan admitted.

“Chan,” Woojin said exasperatedly.

“It was a difficult day,” Chan hissed back, gesturing to the child in his arms. Jisung leaned forward to catch Minho’s eye and pouted in sympathy as the child hiccoughed to the end of his tears. Minho sighed deeply, worn out from his meltdown, and leaned into Chan’s chest.

“Has he been like this the whole time?” Felix asked quietly.

“No, he hasn’t cried at all,” Changbin said. “I don’t think so anyway. Sung?”

“No,” Jisung said, pulling faces at Minho. “He’s thrown tantrums but no tears.”

“No delayed gratification ability,” Seungmin chipped in. “I tested him on it the other day.”

“What _didn’t_ you test him on,” Hyunjin asked.

“Learned aggression, which probably wouldn’t work anyway, and attachment theory, which he’s too old for.”

“The one with the baby monkeys?” Jisung asked in concern. Chan seemed to be bargaining with Minho now and Minho was nodding along as if he was the picture of innocence.

“What baby monkeys?” Seungmin asked.

“Nevermind.” If Seungmin didn’t know about that particular experiment, Jisung wasn’t going to educate him.

***

Minho got a Wagon Wheel after all, they all did. He glanced warily to Woojin before he bit into it and Woojin nodded, gesturing for him to eat.

“You have to be good now, though.”

“That’s never going to work,” Seungmin muttered, taking a huge bite of his own.

“Do you have parenting expertise you would like to share, Kim Seungmin?” Chan asked.

“Don’t have kids?” Seungmin suggested, crumbs falling from his mouth.

“Bit late for that,” Chan said as Minho proceeded to shove as much of his biscuit into his mouth as he could now he’d had a taste. Chan temporarily confiscated the rest of it until Minho finished what he had. “Any other tips?”

“Have you tried… solitary confinement?” Seungmin asked. “It’s very effective.”

“No, why-” Chan broke off and stared at Seungmin. “Is that what your father does when you go back home?” he asked. The room went silent apart from the sound of Minho's munching.

“This is home,” Seungmin said firmly. “I’m not going back to live with him.” Hyunjin wrapped an arm around him protectively and leant back to press a quick kiss to the back of Seungmin’s neck. His face remained impassive but there were very few ways that could be mistaken for a friendly gesture. Jisung didn’t know why he hadn’t seen it before.

“Yeah, no, of course,” Chan tripped over his words. “This is home as long as you want it to be,” He assured Seungmin. “But is that what happens?”

“Happened,” Seungmin corrected him.

“Happened.” Chan repeated in a daze. “Is that what happened?”

“It meets the description of what I read online,” Seungmin said carelessly, licking the chocolate off his fingers. “I mostly stayed in my room until I could remember something. How much wonderglion juice did you bring, Lix?” He quickly diverted the attention.

“Not enough,” Felix replied, rubbing at his shoulder. “But it’s heavy and I had all the other sh- _things_ to get for the shop.”

“Nice save,” Jeongin commented sarcastically.

“Thanks,” Felix replied in the same tone.

“What did you sell to get all this anyway?” Changbin asked a few seconds later. Jisung’s Wagon Wheel was tragically already gone and he wondered if he could guilt trip his way into getting the one left in the open packet. “We didn’t have that much information.”

Mmm!” Felix said excitedly and covered his mouth to swallow his mouthful before he spoke. “Yeah, so, apparently, word got out that Minnie outsmarted his dad and it like _instantly_ devalued his dad’s power. And then when I found out I was like ‘oh yeah, Minnie lives with me in Truailleadh’ and that got me _so much_ because everyone wanted the connection, you know. And after that I told like, over fifteen people Minnie's favourite colour was blue and that got me everything else.”

“It was that valuable?” Seungmin asked. “Terra, my dad is gonna be mad.”

“Yeah but like, he has no followers now,” Felix explained. “They all switched to a different Elder. I’m pretty sure he’ll get demoted soon.”

Seungmin grimaced. “Ohh, that’s definitely not good. Don’t go back for a while, ok? He probably won’t cross the skin himself but you have too much information by association so you can’t end up accidently indebted to him.”

“Yeah, fine by me,” Felix agreed. “I cleared most of my debts while I was there anyway.”

"Good," Seungmin sighed.

"Do I ha' go see Minnie's Dad when 'm big?" Minho asked, with his mouth full. "I don' like him."

"Uhhh," Seungmin said. "I'm actually not sure how that's going to work anymore. I was bargaining on my father ordering everyone to be ok with an elf but I might have to actually carry out my blackmail instead which will take longer.”

“Your blackmail?” Chan asked, amused.

“I said I’d start an uprising.” Seungmin sighed. “I could but really it would take such a long time to get enough people on my side and Lixie is the one with all the connections. We’re better waiting for my father to gain power again.”

“You think he will?” Woojin asked.

“Definitely,” Seungmin and Felix replied in unison.

“He’s still got favours to call in from most people.” Felix added. “it's just that the- ah it’s too complicated to explain.”

“ _Explain in Fae then_ ,” Chan said, in Fae. His smothering instincts had fully kicked in and he wouldn’t rest until he knew everything there was to know about the threat to his kids. He was just like that.

 _“Korean wasn’t the problem,_ ” Felix replied. “ _It’s all the cultural differences that you don’t get.”_ Or at least that’s what Jisung thought he said. His conversational Fae was pretty good and he knew a lot of nouns from having to use it in magic wielding but verb tenses were a nightmare.

 _“Like what?”_ Chan pressed.

 _“Like the difference between free information and exchanged information,”_ Felix said. “ _Minnie messed with that because now some people are valuing free information as a mine for conditional truths. And the feasibility of a conditional truth is crashing in a wave through the population as more people learn about what Seungmin did and build immunity to it. And then there is the confidence variable and-”_

“You lost me,” Chan said. Jisung was glad he stopped Felix because it felt like his brain was melting just trying to understand the words, let alone their meaning.

“Ahgubludhafajihanida” Minho said.

“Couldn’t have put it better myself, Min,” Hyunjin agreed.

“I told you it was complicated,” Felix rolled his eyes. “Fae is more than just selling secrets.”


	27. You took away my cuddles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was getting a bit long so you can have a semi cliffhanger instead

"Where are you three going?" Chan asked. Jisung turned from where he was trying to sneak off to his bedroom despite only being one person. He wasn't the only one that froze but InMinJin seemed a lot less guilty about it.

"To our bedroom," Jeongin replied. "Is one of us on dish duty?"

"Yes," Chan said quickly. That man couldn't lie to save his life. "Uhh, Seungmin is. And Innie you were supposed to do laundry today."

"This is homophobia," Jeongin grumbled as he stomped off to the bathroom to collect the towels. Jisung stepped out of his way before he got bowled over in Jeongin's determination to do his task as quickly as possible.

Jisung wasn't sure that 'homophobia' was what was happening given the uncannily high frequency of male to male attraction in the building, but it was certainly something. He hadn't been paying a lot of attention to Chan's reaction when Changlix got together but he did remember sulking about them sharing a bed while he was in the room. Felix had been very nice about it even though Jisung had been ruining the mood. This time however, it didn't look like Chan was going to let InMinJin in the same room together, let alone the same bed.

Hyunjin held up his hands as both boyfriends left him standing alone. "Channie-hyung, why?" he whined.

"I did nothing," Chan lied.

"You took away my cuddles."

"I'll cuddle you, Jinnie," Chan offered. "Come sit with me."

"No," Hyunjin refused him with his arms crossed. "Your cuddles are tainted and you'll do work instead of paying attention to me."

Chan's eyes widened as that sparked a memory. "Oh shit, that email."

"Channie!" Woojin called warningly from the other room.

"Sorry!" Chan called back. He looked torn as Hyunjin stared him down judgmentally.

"Go do your work," Jisung made the decision for him and stepped away from the comfort of his own bed. "I'll enable the threesome." Chan must have stopped listening at 'work' because he agreed and dashed off down the stairs.

"Threesome?" Hyunjin asked with a smirk.

"Are you not? Wait- that makes it sound like a one night stand. You're like a couple but th- _throuple_." Jisung grinned. "You're a throuple."

"Thanks, I hate it," Hyunjin told him. He looked down to his hands, twisting them together. "You're ok with it?" he asked nervously.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jisung said, taking Hyunjin's arm to drag him into his bedroom. Once the other two were done with their tasks this would be the first place they would check for him. "We all saw how badly Minnie and Innie together worked out for all of you and really, this was going to happen at some point."

"You say that like you knew what was going on," Hyunjin said, flopping down onto his bed. He held open his arms and Jisung didn't hesitate to accept the cuddles. He just hoped Hyunjin would keep his human legs this time because the sucker marks always itched once they dried.

"I knew it was going to happen," Jisung bluffed. "I just didn't know when. Did you really bet that Lix would find out before me?" That hurt a bit. They didn't even know that Felix was coming home today.

"Yeah," Hyunjin said and cuddled Jisung tighter to compensate. "Not money or anything but we didn't want to announce it or anything after all the drama from the last confessions. It was just a joke. You can be pretty oblivious, Sung."

"I'm not that oblivious," Jisung argued.

"I made out with Seungmin at karaoke," Hyunjin told him. "For at least a minute. You weren't even the one singing at the time."

"No way," Jisung scoffed. Surely he would have noticed that. "That's a lie."

"Is not," Hyunjin laughed. "Ask Minnie."

"I will," Jisung huffed. "How did you work out your feelings anyway?" It was the one thing that didn't add up. "Last time we spoke about this you still hadn't decided if you were going to stay their friend."

Hyunjin hummed and Jisung felt it through his shoulder. "Minnie." He said the nickname with such reverence that Jisung had a sudden urge to never call Seungmin anything but Seungmin again. "It rained the other night and he came through to check on me even though we weren't speaking."

“Wait!” Jisung said, half sitting up. “When Min found Seungminnie sleeping through here? What did you _do?”_ This was scandalous information. If only Chan knew.

“Nothing!” Hyunjin hit his shoulder and pulled Jisung back down to cuddle. “Ok, we kissed,” he admitted. Jisung squealed excitedly. “But I was really bad at it and we just went to sleep.”

“Adorable,” Jisung said with disgust. First Changbin and Felix and now Hyunjin, Seungmin and Jeongin. He wouldn’t have any single friends to hang out with by the end of the week. “You didn’t tell me how you worked out that you liked them.” He didn’t know why but this felt like important information to learn.

“I was kind of flirting,” Hyunjin admitted. “And then Minnie got mad at me for leading him on and then.. Actually I’m not really sure. He got really close and I told him I wanted to kiss him sometimes and he said that’s what romantic attraction was- which is crazy but I’m just going with it- and then he kissed me. Oh! And he’s kissed Lix before and apparently Lix is a better kisser than I am.”

 _“What?_ ” Jisung asked gleefully. “Seungminnie and Felix? _When?”_

“Uh, I forgot to ask.” Hyunjin was blushing brightly.

Jisung punched him in the shoulder. “How-”

“Sungie!” Minho called happily from the door, swinging it shut behind him and running for the bed.

“Frogskin,” Jisung cursed before putting on a cheerful smile. “Hey, Min!”

“Sungie, I’m cold,” Minho announced.

“You can’t be cold,” Jisung told him. “You’re wearing a jumper and it’s summertime.”

“I am though,” Minho said, crawling over them and flopping down in quite possibly the worst position he could have found. Hyunjin rolled onto his back and pulled Minho with him so the boy was on his chest. Jisung took the opportunity to sit up.

“You’re not cold,” Hyunjin said, pressing the back of his fingers against Minho’s cheeks. “Did you just want an excuse to join our cuddles?”

“No,” Minho wrinkled his nose and tried to escape Hyunjin’s arms. “I am cold.”

“Magic again?” Hyunjin asked, twisting his head to look at Jisung.

“No, my magic is warm to him,” Jisung explained. “He’s missing it. Min, I’m not giving you magic.”

“Please,” Minho asked with a pout. He’d asked already, straight after dinner, and that was why Jisung was trying to get away in the first place.

“No, Min.” Jisung remained firm. “I’m not putting magic in your blood. You’re better without it.”

“It didn’t hurt,” Minho protested.

“You.” Jisung added. “It didn’t hurt you. It hurt me quite a lot.”

“Just a little bit,” Minho bargained.

“Are you addicted to magic, Min?” Hyunjin asked, tickling him. “Do we have to stage an intervention?”

“He might be,” Jisung realised quietly. “Min, are you hurting? Does it hurt anywhere?”

“Just cold,” Minho said. “Cold everywhere.” He reached out to Jisung and Jisung let him come and sit in his lap.

“Better?” he asked. Maybe he could trick Minho into thinking he was doing magic.

“You’re not doing it,” Minho protested, holding Jisung’s hand tightly and shaking it. So much for that idea.

“Sungie doesn’t have much magic right now, Min,” Hyunjin said, trying to catch Jisung’s eye for a clue as to what to do. Jisung had no idea either. “He needs to keep it for himself or he’ll get ill again.”

Minho whined impatiently. “When are you going to have enough again, Sungie?” he asked, slapping Jisung’s hands together.

“Dunno,” Jisung replied. He was more aware of his magic now but it was like water at the bottom of a well. He could access it yes, but it would be easier once the well filled up and overflowed into his bloodstream like it used to. “I need to save it to age you back again anyway,” he told Minho. “Wouldn’t you rather be big?”

Minho hummed. “Yes,” he decided eventually. It was a big change from his desperation from before. “But you will be sad.”


	28. A secret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lads you're not ready for this

“Why would I be sad?” Jisung asked. Hyunjin shrugged and sat up, watching Minho curiously.

“Because you don’t like doing magic anymore,” Minho said.

“Where did he learn that,” Jisung whispered, mostly to himself. Hyunjin looked at him sharply.

“Is he right?”

“Yes!” Minho said, twisting around in Jisung’s lap. “Sungie is my _best friend_. I know him better than you!” He placed his hands on Jisung’s cheeks and squished them together. He did that as an adult too but it was normally only with one finger. Jisung really _really_ missed adult Minho. He closed his eyes to block out the view of his mistakes but Minho’s child voice still rang out. “Sungie?”

“Yep,” Jisung said shortly, his eyes still tightly closed.

“Do you not want to make me big? Because it’s magic.” How was this kid so perceptive?

“It’s dangerous, Minho,” Jisung said, finally opening his eyes. Minho was frowning at him. It was so familiar. He just had to imagine a sharper nose and thinner cheeks and it would be his hyung. “Every time I use magic on you something worse happens. I _want_ to make you big again and remove your curse, I really do. But I don’t want you to die while I’m trying.”

“So I have to stay small forever?” Minho asked.

“Oh jeez,” Hyunjin said. Yeah, Jisung didn’t want to be part of this conversation either.

“I don’t know.” Jisung said and something inside him snapped. “I don’t know, ok. And normally I’d talk to Minho-hyung about all this but I _can’t_ because he’s fucking _five!_ ”

He shouldn’t have yelled. He should not have yelled because now Minho’s face was crumpling _again_ and this time it was his fault. What was worse was that this wasn’t an attention-grabbing cry like before. It was silent and Minho’s lower lip wobbled tremendously as he fought back a sob. The door opened and Hyunjin made neck slashing motions as Jeongin stared wide-eyed, frozen with his hand on the handle. Hyunjin leapt off of the bed and dragged Jeongin out of the room with him, no doubt glad of the excuse to leave. Maybe they would go and get one of the hyungs to deal with this.

“I’m sorry, Minho,” Jisung whispered, pulling the crying boy into his arms. “I shouldn’t have said that to you.”

“You, don’t, like, me,” Minho said dejectedly, through hiccups.

“I _do_ like you,” Jisung said, rubbing circles on his back. “I like you so much, Minho.”

“No. You like _Big me._ ” Minho said. “You don’t like _me_. You’re not going to make me big again and you won’t like me _ever_.” He tried to pull out of Jisung’s grip but there was no way Jisung was letting him go like this.

“I like you, I promise,” Jisung said, trying desperately to hold onto Minho as he jabbed his sharp elbows into Jisung’s ribs. “Minho, stop, please. _Please_. I’ll tell you a secret.”

“A secret?” Minho asked, stilling immediately. Despite not being officially a fae, he was just as greedy for knowledge as Felix and Seungmin. There were still tear tracks down his face but he didn’t seem to care anymore.

“A secret,” Jisung confirmed though he had no idea what there was to tell Minho that he didn’t already know. “What do you want the secret to be about?”

“About me,” Minho whispered. “A secret about me.”

“Will you tell me a secret about me too?” Jisung asked. “So it’s fair.”

Minho nodded enthusiastically. “Like Lixie does to get strawberries.”

“Yeah, like Lixie does,” Jisung agreed. He had to think of a secret now. It was difficult to find something he’d never told Minho before. His conversation with Hyunjin from before Minho interrupted echoed in his mind. _‘He got really close and I told him I wanted to kiss him sometimes and he said that’s what romantic attraction was_ ,’ Hyunjin said.

“I think I might be in love with Big you,” Jisung’s mouth said unprompted and _wow, that’s not the secret he meant to say **at all.**_

Minho’s mouth fell open in an O.

“I mean-” Jisung tried to backtrack but he couldn’t find anywhere to go. “I don’t- I’m not in love with you but I might like you? Not as a friend?” _Terra, why was he telling this to a five year old._

 _“_ So I can marry you when I grow up?” Minho asked. And Jisung thought that _he_ had been moving too fast.

“ _Marry_ me?” Jisung asked.

“Yes,” Minho replied seriously. “I’m going to grow up again and then when I’m an adult I will get Changbinnie to make you a pretty ring and I will marry you.”

Jisung laughed despite himself. “Min, marriage isn’t legal here and I’ll be super old. You won’t want to marry me.”

Minho sighed exasperatedly. “I’m a hundred-”

“And a lot,” Jisung finished with him.

“I’m older than you,” Minho said, glaring at Jisung for his interruption.

“Yes, Minho-hyung,” Jisung said with a laugh. “I’m sorry, Hyung. Continue.”

“Channie-hyung will make marriage legal,” Minho said confidently. “So he can marry Woojinnie-hyung.”

“Will he?” Jisung said, unable to keep the smile off his face.

“And even if you are old as Hyungs you’ll still be pretty so I’ll still want to marry you.”

“Ah, ok,” Jisung said, trying to match Minho’s seriousness. “When you grow up I’ll marry you then. But you have to give me a really pretty ring, ok? Otherwise I might say no.”

“Ok,” Minho said, frowning in concentration. “Do you like gold?”

“Gold?!” Jisung exclaimed. “Ah, are you going to be rich when you grow up?”

“Yes,” Minho said. “I’m going to be the best dancer in all of Korea and have so much money and a hundred cats.”

“I’m allergic to cats,” Jisung reminded him. That made Minho pause.

“A hundred sphynx cats!” he declared.

“What are they?” Jisung made the mistake of asking.

“You don’t-?” Minho looked offended. “Give me your phone, I’m going to show you.”


	29. I'm not joining your cult

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my first exam is on tuesday and its pretty packed for a couple of weeks so I might go MIA at any point should the fear finally kick in. It hasn't yet so who knows.
> 
> Because of this I decided to finally look up the old twitter I set up years ago. Turns out it had 0 posts and 0 followers so I've adapted it for this. @Lossit_bay_skz Its on some privacy setting bc I use lossit_bay as a pseudonym on many things so my irls would recognise it as me and I don't want to go there.
> 
> I don't really know how twitter works but it might be better than using the comments section here for some stuff I guess? Also I can let you know when I'm busy because upload schedules are not how I roll. So yeah, please help me work out how to do that

There was a cursory knock on the door before Jeongin in fox form pushed his way through the gap where Hyunjin hadn’t closed it properly. Jisung knew he was a talented boy but he couldn’t knock and then shift that quickly.

“Come in,” he called. Minho was already distracted, holding open his arms as Jeongin bounded onto the bed and straight to him.

“Fluffy Innie!” he cried happily, trying to pet the fox all over as Jeongin jumped and twisted out of his grip. Eventually Jeongin gave him an opening and Minho knocked him over, going face-first into his pale fur. Jisung grabbed Minho by his waistband and hauled him up again before he got bitten or scratched. Jeongin was very much in control in his fox form but instinct was instinct and if Minho hurt him it would be difficult for Jeongin not to try to protect himself.

“You good now, Sung?” Hyunjin asked from the door with a smirk. Their entrance was a _little_ too perfectly timed now he thought about it. Minho had just finished his lengthy description of sphynx cats (complete with videos) and Jisung was ready to educate him on the coolness of lizards when the knock came. Jisung didn’t trust it one bit.

“Yes,” Jisung answered Hyunjin suspiciously. “What did you hear?”

“Oh no, I fully ran away from the problem,” Hyunjin admited sunnily, joining them along with… _Seungmin._

“What did _you_ hear, Seungminnie?” Jisung asked instead. He should have known the fae boy would be involved.

“Everything,” Seungmin said with no shame, stretching out on Jeongin’s bed. He rested his head on Hyunjin’s thigh and Hyunjin started to run his fingers through Seungmin’s hair. It would have been a sweet image were it not for Seungmin’s shit-eating grin. “I better get an invite to your wedding.”

“I’m not getting married,” Jisung said, trying in vain to will the blush away from his cheeks. “Contracts formed with minors are invalid.”

Hyunjin frowned cutely but Seungmin looked impressed. “We’ll make a fae out of you yet, Han Jisung.”

“I’m not joining your cult,” Jisung replied.

“Your fiance is,” Seungmin said and Jisung nailed him with a pillow.

“Min, what did you do?” Hyunjin asked with a playful warning tone once Jisung was out of pillows and they could see clearly again. Jisung turned to see Minho frozen, caught in the act holding a tightly rolled armadillo.

“Nothing!” Minho said quickly. “It just happened!” He dropped Jeongin, who thankfully only had half a metre to fall, onto the soft bedspread.

“Innie? Are you ok?” Jisung asked, running a finger along Jeongin’s back. Jeongin uncoiled at the soft touch and Jisung scratched at the soft spot between his ears. Jisung knew it wasn’t always a defensive shift and, at home at least, Jeongin often used different forms as a method of communication. Jisung personally got the armadillo a lot when he tried to get a kiss out of Jeongin. Asking for kisses was probably out of line now anyway considering the boy had not one but two boyfriends trying to smother him with love.

He had to pull his hand back quickly as Jeongin shifted back to a fox and then to a boy.

“I’m fine,” Jeongin said roughly. He cleared his throat and swiped a pair of shorts off of the floor to put on. “It just tickled.” Hyunjin made grabby hands at him but Jeongin ignored him with expert precision and pulled Minho back into roughhousing.

“Rejected,” Jisung said in his best video game narrator impression as he pulled his legs up out of the way.

“It’s fine, I’ve got options,” Hyunjin said casually and cupped Seungmin’s chin to tilt his face up as he swooped down to press a kiss to Seungmin’s lips. Jisung knew he should have looked away but instead he stared in morbid fascination as Seungmin fisted his hand in Hyunjin’s t-shirt to hold him in place and time seemed to slow down. _That_ was going to take some getting used to. His shock must have shown on his face because Hyunjin gave him a shy smile as he pulled away.

“We can tone down the PDA,” he offered.

“It’s fine,” Jisung said quickly and cut through the awkward tension with another joke. “I know you wouldn’t manage to restrain yourself anyway.”

“I could,” Hyunjin argued.

“He’s gonna have to learn before school starts up again or Lix will to have to teach us how to fight,” Seungmin said, rolling into a sitting position. Jisung winced. There were some parts of school he missed but trying to fit the status quo was not one of them.

“You should practice being ‘just friends’ in front of Chan-hyung,” he suggested. “If he misses enough sleep he might even forget you’re dating.”

“I don’t get why he’s fine with Changlix but not us,” Jeongin grumbled, having finally worn Minho out. The boy was lying on his back breathing heavily with his hair sticking up in every direction.

“Because you are _baby_ ,” Jisung told him, squishing Jeongin’s cheeks together so his lips puckered unflatteringly. “Also probably because Changbinnie-hyung thinks it’s incredibly scandalous to do more than peck Lix on the lips and Lix is too nice to push him.”

“I can fix that,” Seungmin said with a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Min, want to help me persuade Lix to seduce his boyfriend?”

“Yes!” Minho said excitedly, sitting up. “Now?”

 _“No_ ,” Jisung said, hating that he had become the voice of reason. “He’s a kid, Seungmin.”

“A kid with a lot of experience in this area,” Seungmin countered before turning his attention back to Minho. “Later, Min. Come to our room after bedtime.”

“ _No_ ,” Jisung said. “Minho, don’t do that.”

“Why?” Minho wanted to know. Where to start.

“You have to respect Changbin-hyung’s boundaries,” _Terra,_ now he sounded like _Chan_. What was _happening?_ “Also if Channie-hyung realises Changlix are not PG he’s going to do a room change and you’ll have to give away your single room.”

“No!” Minho said as if Jisung had just suggested getting a dog instead of a cat.

“Yes,” Jisung said seriously, incredibly glad he had found a reason that didn’t require detailed discussion of his friends potential sex life. “He’ll make you room share with _Hyunjin._ ”

“Nooo!” Minho shook his head so hard Jisung was afraid it might fall off.

“Spoilsport,” Seungmin grumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wasnt that cute


	30. Cauliflower giraffe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The folks on twitter voted against any plot happening in chapter so it is what it. Should you wish to join the facade of democracy in @Lossit_bay_skz

There was a four-beat knock on the door. Two whole beats, an upbeat to the third beat and an offbeat before the fourth on beat. Six knocks in total. Woojin’s knock. They fell silent.

“Are you three decent?” Woojin called teasing.

“Hey! I’m here too!” Jisung called out petulantly.

“So you are,” Woojin grinned as he opened the door. “And Min. Just the man I was looking for.”

“He’s asleep,” Jeongin said quietly. Minho was resting against his chest, mumbling arguments to himself as he dreamed despite Jeongin’s reassuring pats. It had been a long and eventual day for him and once the adrenaline from playing with Jeongin had worn off he was out like a light.

“That’s why I’m looking for him,” Woojin said. “It’s waaay past his bedtime.” Jeongin pouted as Woojin lifted Minho out of his arms. Jisung could empathise. There was something about having such a tiny person trust you that made your heart all warm and fuzzy.

“Cauliflower giraffe,” Minho grumbled darkly and turned his head into Woojin’s neck.

“ _Wolf_ , darling. _Wolf_ ,” Woojin told him quietly, swaying slightly as he adjusted his grip on the boy. “And no cauliflowers involved.”

“It’s just nonsense,” Hyunjin told him. “He said ‘Beef radio, I’m playing skateboard’ earlier.”

“You’re one to talk,” Woojin shot back. He didn’t even have to do the leaning back thing Jisung had mastered to hold Minho, he just held him like he could do it all day. He probably could, considering Jisung had seen him pick up Changbin before in much the same way without even a grunt. “I’ve had whole conversations with you while you were asleep.” Woojin told Hyunjin. “You once walked into our old room in the middle of the night and said you needed eggs for school. It was a Saturday. At 3am.”

“Sorry?” Hyunjin said through laughter. “Why eggs?”

“If I knew, Hyunjinnie. If I knew…” Woojin sighed and didn’t finish his sentence. It had probably been the least of the bullshit Woojin had had to face that week- they were notorious for finding trouble. “Are you going to test out that sleep-walking potion this week?”

“Is it supposed to rain?” Hyunjin countered. That was what normally triggered it and there was no point in him taking a potion if he wasn’t going to walk in the first place. “I can swap you Innie for Channie-hyung?”

“Channie will love that,” Woojin said dryly. Jisung wasn’t so sure. Woojin hadn’t been there the previous few weeks as Chan moped over his absence. Missing out on Woojin cuddles was a steep price to pay for separating InMinJin and the trio were already joined at the hip from years of friendship- Chan might as well just let it happen.

“Tomorrow night, Sunday night and maybe Saturday night,” Seungmin announced, flicking through the weather on his phone. “Tomorrow is the best chance. 80% probability of rain at 2am.”

“Great,” Hyunjin said sarcastically, pushing back his fringe and clenching it in his fist as if he was seconds away from pulling his hair out. “Can’t wait to have a horrible night tomorrow.”

“You know you don’t have to take the potion,” Woojin said seriously. “It’s only if you want to.”

“I know,” Hyunjin said, letting go of his hair and flopping dramatically back onto the bed. “It will be shit either way though.”

“Language,” Woojin drawled slowly. He was probably fed up of telling them all off by now.

“Korean,” Hyunjin said back in the same tone. “Sometimes ‘shit’ is just the right word for it, Hyungie.”

“Hmm, sometimes ‘grounded’ is the right word for it too,” Woojin replied. “What if I let InMin go on a date without you?”

“They wouldn’t go,” Hyunjin said confidently.

“We definitely would,” Jeongin countered. “We wouldn’t even bring you back a present.”

Hyunjin huffed. “I need new boyfriends. Sungie?”

“I’m too good for you,” Jisung scoffed. He didn’t believe his statement for a second but ‘fake it until you make’ and all that. Maybe one day he wouldn’t feel like he was playing a character of himself and he’d actually have the confidence to say those words truthfully. It was _Hyunjin_ after all. Jisung knew all his flaws and once you got past the superficial layer Hyunjin really wasn’t that much better than Jisung.

“You’re also already engaged,” Seungmin pointed out. Jisung was out of pillow to attack with but he brandished his phone.

“Oh?” Woojin said with interest. “Sungie, congratulations.

“Shut up,” Jisung grumbled. “Min was talking nonsense, _again_.”

“He said he’d marry you?” Woojin asked. Why was his voice all soft like that? Jisung didn’t need pity, he was _fine_.

"In like fifty years when he's grown up," Jisung rolled his eyes. There was no way Minho would still find him interesting after that long. "It's just little kid idol worship stuff because he loves my magic. He'll grow out of it."

"Yeah," Woojin said quietly. "I'm going to put him to bed now. Sungie, you should have an early night too. You've worked hard today."

"Wha-!" Jeongin called, suddenly in panic as Woojin turned to leave. Woojin paused halfway out of the room.

"I'm going to go play guitar when I'm done with Min," Woojin told him as if he'd read Jeongin's mind. Channie is working in our bedroom and if you need me you can just knock on the wall."

"Ok," Jeongin said shyly. "I'm not going to bed yet though," he tacked on quickly. "Just-"

"I've got lots of songs to play," Woojin calmly interrupted him. "That's where I'll be."

"Ok," Jeongin repeated. "But I might not-" He caught himself this time. "Ok."

"See you later," Woojin said with a knowing smile. He did that a lot for someone who wasn't a fae.

"You're sleeping with Hyungs?" Jisung guessed. There was no judgement- Chan and Woojin's room radiated safety. And it was definitely them and not the room because the safety had moved downstairs when they did. It was the perfect place for naps in Jisung's opinion and he was convinced that Woojin had somehow filled the room with 'go to sleep' vibes for Chan that had the side effect of making anyone feel sleepy. He was sleepy just thinking about it.

"Yeah," Jeongin grumbled. "Hyunjin-hyung is great but he doesn't exactly radiate protectiveness. I tried to sleep up here last night but I kept scaring myself awake."

Jisung pouted in sympathy. "I'd offer to help but I sleep like a stick."

"It's 'sleep like a log," Seungmin said with a frown.

"Yeah," Jisung said. He loved baiting Seungmin like that. Without fail he'd feel the need to say something. Jisung pulled up his sleeve and flexed to the best of his ability. "However, given the current state of my anatomy, I shall be sleeping like a stick."

"'Current state'," Hyunjin scoffed. "You've been skinny your entire life."

" _So far,_ Jinnie," Jisung corrected him. _"So far_. I could become buff at any moment, I'm just choosing not to to give the rest of you a chance."

"The rest of us have already succeeded in wooing our love interests," Seungmin pointed out. Jisung was suddenly blindingly aware he had somehow managed to end up in a room alone with the throuple. "And it had nothing to do with your biceps."

" _Exactly_ ," Jisung retorted. "You're welcome."


	31. A rice cooker isn't going to kill me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> while im searching for the plot you can have this

Jisung was very pleased to see his hair had remained neon orange overnight with hardly any effort on his part. Maybe he was getting a hang of this magic nonsense. He leant over the sink and pulled his hair into a tight parting to examine his roots. Still orange. He snapped his fingers and sparked a tiny blue flame that grew as pride bloomed in his chest. Magic without blue hair. That was a first.

“Um,” he said when he entered the kitchen for food and found Minho duct taped to the countertop. Minho’s eyes lit up.

“Sungie! Good morning!” 

“Morning,” Jisung said hesitantly. “Who taped you to the counter?”

“Woojinnie-hyung!” Minho said enthusiastically. He was sat up, with horizontal strips holding his back against the tiles on the wall and his legs to the counter. Extra effort had been taken to make sure his hands were stuck in tiny fists and taped across his chest. Despite all this he was cheerful.

“Right,” Jisung moved to untape him and then reconsidered it. Woojin wouldn’t do that without reason. “Where is Hyung? And anybody else?” 

“Hyung is getting dressed. Seungminnie was here but I don’t know where he went.”

Jisung opened the fridge and helped himself to odd leftovers. He threw the tupperware onto the counter and hopped up next to Minho, swinging his legs as he considered his options.

“So, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do _anything_ ,” Minho replied.

“Uh huh. What did you do?” Jisung repeated, holding his food in his cheeks to speak clearer. Minho opened his mouth pitifully as Jisung scooped up some fried kimchi and Jisung raised an eyebrow, shoving the kimchi into his own mouth. If Minho wanted food he had to pay for it with gossip like a good little fae child.

“I was cooking,” Minho admitted. 

“By yourself?” Jisung asked. His heart had dropped but he kept his face neutral and rewarded Minho with some kimchi. The boy hummed happily as he chewed.

“It was just rice. A rice cooker isn’t going to kill me.”

“Looks like Hyung disagreed,” Jisung noted. Minho was trying to wiggle an arm free but Woojin had done a solid job. “How did you reach the rice cooker anyway? And the sink.”

“I climbed,” Minho said proudly. Now Jisung was starting to see why Woojin had him duct taped in place. He looked between the rice cooker at one side of the hob and the sink at the other. They had a stool- a necessity in a short household- but even then how had Minho managed to to rinse the rice and get it and water across the room?

“How far did you get?” Jisung asked. 

“Hyung found me when I was measuring the rice,” Minho grumbled. “I was going to put an egg in it too and he made it too salty.”

“Maybe you can help at lunch,” Jisung suggested. Adult Minho had been the best cook in the house and it would be a shame to waste that talent just because it was packed in a smaller box for the time being.

“Yes!” Minho said enthusiastically. “What do you want to eat?”

“Are you planning to cook again, Minho-ssi?” Woojin asked threateningly from the door.

“Lunch!” Minho told him proudly. Woojin sighed. 

“I leave you for five minutes and Jisungie is already corrupting you.” He started carefully untaping Minho though.

“We all know Minho is more of a bad influence than I am,” Jisung pointed out as Minho finally got a hand free and immediately ripped the tape off with his teeth, growling.

“I’m a monster!” Minho announced, shaking Woojin’s hands off to dramatically pull free from the counter by himself. “I’m going to go fight the kraken!”

Woojin caught Minho before he launched himself from the counter but the boy ran off as soon as he was set on his feet.

“He’s going to wake up Hyunjinnie?” Woojin guessed. 

“He’s going to _try_ ,” Jisung corrected him. “There’s a greater chance that Hyunjinnie traps him in a hug and keeps sleeping.”

“I can only hope,” Woojin muttered to himself. He looked like he had a long morning and it wasn’t even 10 am yet. “Are you feeling better today, Sung?” he asked. Even if he wasn’t Jisung would have considered lying to Woojin just to give him one less thing to worry about.

“I’m all good,” Jisung reported. “Fizzy blood again.”

“I’m- what?” Woojin paused in making coffee for everyone. “Fizzy blood?”

“Channie-hyung says magic makes my blood taste fizzy.”

“Of course,” Woojin replied blandly as he started the machine running. “I don’t know why I asked.”

They stayed in companionable silence as the smell of fresh coffee filled the room. Jisung could feel himself becoming more alert by the second. Alert enough that the silence became suspicious.

“Minho’s awfully quiet,” he commented lowly. He was afraid that if he said it any louder he’d jinx it. Woojin hummed in agreement and set a steaming mug in front of Jisung.

“As far as I know all the dangerous weapons upstairs are in this room,” Woojin said, flicking the tip of Jisung’s nose and sitting down opposite him. Jisung smiled contentedly as his nose tingled. Woojin always managed to make it seem like Jisung’s magic was a cute little quirk he had and not a patchily contained explosive. “The worst he can do is wake someone and it’s about time you lazy bones got up.”

“I’m up!” Jisung said petulantly.

“And I’m very proud of you,” Woojin replied mockingly. “The shop opens in 15 minutes. Are you working today or do you want to do something else?”

“I’ll open,” Jisung said quickly. He didn’t want _more_ special treatment and some distraction would be good.

“Alright,” Woojin said. “I’ll be down in a little bit but you’d better hurry to open on time. Get dressed while your coffee cools.” 

Woojin insisted on opening at a set time which Jisung didn’t really understand. When Chan was in charge they just opened when they woke up, had lunch break when they were hungry and closed when they had something else to do. However, Woojin worked hard to improve their business beyond break even so Jisung didn’t mind the stricter schedule too much. He took one last mouthful to fuel him in the search for matching socks and stood to leave. There was a yell from the direction of the bedrooms.

“That was almost a record,” Woojin sighed, draining the dregs of his coffee. Jisung didn’t know how he could drink it so hot. The yell had sounded like Hyunjin which meant that Minho had found a new way to wake the mer boy up. Jisung wondered what it was.


	32. My head hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what happens when you put the two most dramatic people in a room together

Curiosity drove Jisung to Hyunjin’s bedroom where, from the sound of it, a fight had broken out. Woojin followed reluctantly.

Minho was held upside down by two tentacles around his ankles and Hyunjin was yelling in his face. Jisung would have felt sorry for Minho except the boy was yelling back with the same ferociousness.

“BOYS!” Woojin said loudly and the two of them turned at the same time, faces still set in fury.

“He _bit me!_ ” Hyunjin said indignantly, holding up his arm. Now it was called to his attention Jisung could see two crescents of deep indentations. Jisung was impressed- Minho hadn’t been messing about. He might even have drawn blood.

“Hyunjin won’t put me down!” Minho screamed, writhing and lashing out for Hyunjin’s face. Hyunjin just trapped his arms too, stringing Minho up like he was a medieval torture device.

“Hyunjin, let Minho go,” Woojin demanded.

“No,” Hyunjin said. “He’ll attack me.” Minho seemed to take that as an invitation and kicked his legs so Hyunjin had to use more tentacles to keep him suspended. The exertion was showing on his face now but Jisung knew from personal experience that Hyunjin wouldn’t give up just because he was tired.

“He won’t,” Woojin said calmly. “Will you Minho?”

“Yes I will!” Minho said. Jisung had to commend him on his determination. Hyunjin was quite a bit bigger than he was and currently outnumbered him on Limbs to Attack With by quite a few.

“ _Lee Minho_ ,” Woojin said sternly. “I will put you on a Jisung ban.” Jisung had no idea what that meant but Minho clearly did because his eyes widened. 

“No!” 

“Yes,” Woojin said. “Are you going to behave?”

“I will not bite Hyunjinnie,” Minho said moodily. His face was very white now from being upside down for so long and Jisung was a little concerned for his health.

“That’s not what I asked,” Woojin said. “Are you going to _behave?”_

Felix stumbled through from his bedroom and latched onto Jisung’s back. “What’s happening?” he whispered. Jisung gestured subtly to the scene in front of them. One look would give Felix just about as much information as Jisung knew himself. Felix let out a quiet ‘oh’ and climbed onto Jisung’s back to get a better view. Thankfully he was light enough for Jisung to hold him up without complaint.

“Yes,” Minho eventually answered Woojin with a sulky pout.

“Hyunjin,” Woojin said pointedly and Hyunjin let Minho down. It was pretty rough but not enough to get him in trouble. It reminded Jisung of his own fights with Hyunjin and his magic started to swell, spilling over the rim of the well that contained it. The leak of magic into his blood was nothing new but he pushed down on his emotions to keep it to a manageable level. He wanted at least one full day without blue hair.

“Right,” Woojin said once both boys were sitting again and Hyunjin had removed all tentacles from Minho’s body. “Do either of you have injuries in need of attending or were you just yelling at each other?”

Hyunjin made a show of examining his bite before holding his arm out to Woojin with a pout. Woojin looked it over and nodded. Jisung couldn’t see over Woojin’s shoulder but Felix hissed in sympathy so it must have been pretty bad. 

“Min?” Woojin asked. “Are you ok?” Minho rubbed at the welts on his ankles but they were already fading. Hyunjin knew how to let go without leaving a mark if he wanted to.

“My head hurts,” Minho said one he determined he couldn’t use the sucker marks for pity.

“That’s just because you’ve been upside down,” Woojin told him. “You’ll be fine. You’re not getting sympathy for that- you shouldn’t have bitten Jinnie.”

“But-” 

“No,” Woojin cut him off. “Go and get dressed quietly and you can open the shop with Sung.” Minho’s face lit up. “Sung, you too,” Woojin reminded him. _Shit - frogskin_ , he was going to be late.

“Yup!” Jisung said, tapping Felix’s leg so the pixie jumped down from his back. He had to get dressed and brush his teeth and find his converse and-

“Sung,” Woojin cut through his thoughts. “Go.”

“Yup!” Jisung said again, rushing out of the room after Minho.

***

He opened the shop at 10.02am which was on time by Jisung’s standards. They didn’t get a customer until 10.38 anyway so he didn’t know why he bothered to rush. Minho sat on the big table in the interim and pushed Jisungs pens off the edge. He said that’s what cats did but that didn’t explain why _he_ had to do it or why he consistently pushed the blue pen off the table two seconds before Jisung needed it. The customer was a welcome break but they came with a shopping list and were gone again far too quickly.

“Can’t you push something else off the table?” Jisung asked as he returned to the table. Minho was frowning at his drawing, all the pens scattered on the floor.

“What are you drawing, Sungie?” Minho asked.

“It’s not important,” Jisung said, spinning his notebook back around. It was important but if he said that then Minho would ask more questions. “Can you pick my pens back up for me.”

Minho hopped down to a chair and then to the floor and crawled around Jisung’s feet as he gathered the pens. Jisung created extra obstacles with his legs just to make Minho laugh.

“All good out here?” Chan asked from the door towards his bedroom. His hair was still a messy tangle of curls and he had yet to put a shirt on.

“Yeah,” Jisung said and Minho used his distraction to scramble to standing again, the pens clutched tightly between his hands. “Only one customer but they bought a bunch of stuff.”

“That’s good,” Chan said. “Try and sell that weird honey if you can. It’s been sitting there for ages and Lix accidently brought back more.”

“I’ll try,” Jisung said. His sales pitches were incredible but it only worked if a customer was actually there to hear it.

“What time is it?” Chan asked belatedly.

“After 11,” Jisung told him. “Why?” Today wasn’t a therapy day and as far as Jisung was aware Chan didn’t have any other engagements. Chan looked pleasantly surprised with his answer.

“That’s nearly a normal sleep schedule,” he mumbled to himself before remembering Jisung had asked a question. “Um, I’m meeting someone about this rogue vampire nonsense,” Chan waved off potential questions before they made it out of Jisung’s lips. “I don’t know any more than what I’ve told you already, I’m just trying to find out what I can. Someone has to know who this guy is.”

“Yeah, but are they going to tell you, Mr Rebel?” Jisung retorted. Chan might be one of them but a lot of vampires would have nothing to do with him for sympathising with shifters. Even more so now that he was opening dating one of them.

“Hmm, maybe,” Chan said, unbothered. He turned to go and get ready and nearly walked into the doorframe. 

“Sluttiness scale?” Minho asked once Chan was gone, dropping the pens unceremoniously on top of Jisung’s drawing.

“Nothing about that was slutty,” Jisung replied. “That was well into Disaster territory.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also the biting is semi-based off of my own childhood. My little brother had a shark wearable towel with teeth around the hood and my mum would be like 'you're a shark' and then one day he bit me bc he 'was a shark'. Hyunjin 'was the kraken' so Minho decided it was perfectly reasonable to bite him... also he's a little shit


	33. It's blue, like magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took a while. I've been working behind the scenes on a wiki document for myself and fixing all the continuity errors. It was mostly timeline issues and me mixing up the worlds- Truailleadh (Human) and A'Choille (Fae)
> 
> If you want more notice of how things are going, want to see the sketch maps of the house or answer some polls about what's happening next you can follow me on twitter: @Lossit_bay_skz
> 
> enjoy

Minho crawled into Jisung’s lap which wasn’t really what Jisung needed but it was easier to let him than fight him on it.

“Is that magic, Sungie?” Minho asked, pointing to the spidery blue lines on Jisung’s page.

“Hm? Where?” Jisung asked though he knew exactly what Minho was talking about.

“There!” Minho said, jabbing his finger into the page and smudging the line Jisung has just drawn. “It’s blue, like magic.”

“Ahh,” Jisung said vaguely and didn’t answer the question. Minho was a very persistent child so he would wear Jisung down soon enough but he hoped Woojin would make good on his promise to come down to check on him before that.

“Sung! Ee!” Minho drummed his little fists on the table. So much for that idea. 

Thankfully, some kind deity took pity on Jisung and sent a different distraction. It couldn’t have been Terra because delivery drivers weren't really her area of expertise but maybe it was the God Hyunjin quietly believed in, or that greek one. Apollo? He specialised in messages, didn’t he?

“Delivery for.. Bang Chan?” The man at the door said. He frowned at Jisung as if trying to decide if he was old enough to be the authority around here. Jisung got that look a lot. He had a feeling his oversized cheeks had something to do with it.

“I can take it,” Jisung said confidently. Sometimes confidence was all he needed to get adults to do what he wanted. It even worked on Chan but Woojin had very quickly started calling his bluff.

“Umm,” the courier said but he was already walking towards Jisung with the parcel held outstretched. Jisung took it as soon as he was close enough and smoothly signed for it with a flourish. Timing was also important. If he was too slow with his signature the courier would have time to question if he was an adult.

“Thanks!” Jisung said with a cheerful smile and held the parcel tightly to stop Minho from taking it. “Have a nice day!”

“You too!” The courier replied and turned to leave again. Success. 

“Open it! Open it! Open it!” Minho chanted, trying to tear the parcel from Jisung’s hands.

“It’s for Channie-hyung,” Jisung reminded him. He held it above his head to read the label without Minho’s grabby hands in the way. Something about the senders address rang a bell. “Oh!”

“Oh! Oh!” Minho copied him. He’d used Jisung as a climbing frame and was working his way to standing on Jisung’s wobbly stick thighs.

“Sit,” Jisung commanded him and Minho slid back down onto his lap. He hadn’t expected that to be quite so efficient. “Arms crossed.” Minho did that too. Huh. “No touching, ok?”

“Ok,” Minho agreed. Jisung had to double check he wasn’t leaking magic because that had seemed just too easy. He wasn’t. Was Minho really just _doing as he was told?_

“I think this is the glitter we bought for Channie-hyung,” Jisung told him, ripping through the tape. How much packaging did a single tub of glitter need? “We need to be careful so it doesn’t go everywhere before we use it on Hyung.” It was a reminder for himself as much as Minho.

“Ok, ok.” Minho was bouncing excitedly and he’d forgotten to keep his arms crossed but they at least weren’t grabbing for the package. It _was_ the glitter and when Jisung held the glass tub up to the light it shimmered invitingly. “I want it,” Minho said decidedly. Jisung wanted it too but it had been bought with a purpose.

“We’ve got to put it on Channie-hyung first,” he reminded Minho. “We need to make him a sparkly vampire.” Minho nodded seriously and Jisung thought he’d really mastered this babysitting thing until-

“CHANNIE-HYUNG!!!!”

“What?” Chan asked with concern as he stumbled through from the back with a toothbrush hanging out his mouth.

“GLITTER!!!” Minho yelled enthusiastically, poking his head under Jisung’s arm to grin at Chan. Chan froze and backed slowly out of the room. “SPARKLY! CHANNIE-HYUNG!” Minho yelled after him. Jisung clamped his arm to his body, trapping Minho somewhat so he couldn’t run off.

“ _What_ is going on here?” Woojin asked, coming out of the doorway from the workshop on the other side.

“Sparkly Channie-hyung!!” Minho told him as Woojin rescued him from where he’d tangled himself trying to escape.

“I don’t follow,” Woojin said. He turned Minho upside down and hoisted him over his shoulder. Minho giggled happily. 

“We bought glitter,” Jisung explained. “To make Channie-hyung sparkly. Like the vampires in twilight.” Woojin’s eyes lit up.

“I love it.”

***

“I have to go,” Chan protested.

“You’re early,” Woojin told him, pushing Chan down onto a chair. “And you’re missing a vital accessory.”

“I’m not going out with glitter on my face,” Chan argued. “Can’t you guys do it when I’m back?”

“No, that ruins it,” Jisung said firmly. “Vampires sparkle in the _sun,_ Channie-hyung. _Everybody_ knows that.” He handed Woojin the opened tub.

“Vampires _burn,”_ Chan grumbled but sat still as Woojin took some of the shimmering gel on his finger. “I used to be tanned, you know.”

“Sure you were, baby,” Woojin said and swiped the glitter across Chan’s cheekbone. “Ooooh.”

“Don’t do a lot,” Chan said, resigned to his fate.

“I want to help!” Minho piped up, drowning out Chan’s request.

“You can do his arm,” Woojin said, offering Minho the tub as if Chan hadn’t spoken. Minho was sitting on the table again and was at the perfect height to reach Chan’s shoulder. “Jisungie, you do the other arm.”

“Jinnnnieee,” Chan protested but turned his arm for Minho to reach it better.

“You chose to wear a muscle shirt, Channie,” Woojin told him as he got to work on the other cheekbone. “We have a lot of skin to cover.”

“Not my legs,” Chan’s protests were getting weaker. Jisung tried to remember what he learnt about highlights from art class to accent Chan’s muscles. In his opinion it looked pretty good but considering Minho was coating the entirety of Chan’s other arm his efforts were pointless.

“We’ve not got enough to do your legs too,” Jisung said. “Next time.”

“ _Next time??”_ Chan exclaimed. Jisung didn’t understand why he was surprised. Now Woojin was in on it there would no doubt be more glitter arriving with the next stock order, probably in multiple colours.

“Can I help,” Minho pressed his cheek to Woojin’s as he tried to see what the werewolf was doing. He’d finished his designated arm. 

“Very carefully,” Woojin told him. “Down the middle of his nose, like that.” Woojin ran his pinky finger (the only one not covered in glitter) lightly down the slope of Chan’s nose.

“My nose does not need to be highlighted,” Chan said crossly but Minho had already applied a healthy dose of glitter. Woojin removed some of it before it could dry and Jisung drew Minho back before he could get carried away.

“Close your eyes, baby,” Woojin said, hand poised.

“Jin, no.” Chan closed his eyes anyway.

***

“Can I at least see what my face looks like before I go out like this?” Chan asked, twisting his arms to see them. “Nice job, Sungie.”

“Thanks,” Jisung replied shyly.

“Did I do a good job?” Minho asked. “I gave you _lots.”_

“You sure did,” Chan agreed dryly, subtly trying to wipe some of it off. The gel had dried however and it was firmly stuck to his skin. He sighed. Woojin laughed and nudged Chan towards the windows.

“Face that way so I can take a picture.”

“Why do you need a picture?”

“So I can show you what your face looks like,” Woojin replied readily, snapping multiple shots. He held out his phone to Chan. “See? You’re _very_ pretty.”

“Uh huh,” Chan shook his head with a smile as he zoomed in. “You really went all out there, Jinnie,” he commented quietly as he handed the phone back. 

“I had to highlight my favourite parts,” Woojin said with confidence before giggling shyly and locking his arm around Chan’s neck to pull him close enough to knock their heads together and sneak a kiss. It was disgusting in Jisung’s opinion. The glitter was supposed to make a mockery of Chan, not instigate a round of completely unwelcome PDA.

“Oh, my face is your favourite part?” Chan teased. _DISGUSTING._

“Don’t you have a meeting, Hyung?” Jisung reminded Chan very loudly.

“Yup!” Chan said, stumbling away from Woojin and out of the door. “See you later!”

“Remember this day when I cockblock you,” Woojin said, pointing a finger at Jisung sternly. 


	34. Cute but exhausting

By the time Chan had returned from his meeting, the tub was entirely empty of glitter (a feat in itself) and seven out of eight of his family members were freshly painted in the stuff. Jeongin had politely declined and then had impolitely declined with teeth and claws when that didn't deter Hyunjin. He was still in his fox form as a defensive measure.

"Wow," Chan said, stumbling to halt in the doorway of the shop. "That's a lot of glitter." He was staring at Jisung who had been given large circles of glitter on each cheek and a highlight on the tip of his nose for good measure. Minho had declared Jisung's eyes 'already sparkly' and Jisung hadn't questioned it, glad to avoid that disaster.

Jisung puffed up his cheeks and smiled. "Am I cute, Channie-hyung?"

"Very cute," Chan agreed. “Is this your work, Min?” he asked.

“Yes!” Minho replied. “And Woojinnie-hyung gave me tiger stripes! Can you see? Can you see?” Minho tipped back his head and turned it from side to side so the light would catch the glitter. “They’re _hidden_ tiger stripes so nobody knows I’m a tiger.”

“Of course,” Chan said amicably. He put down his shopping bags and picked Minho up to make a show of examining his face closely. “Ahh, an elusive _Great Korean Tiger_. I haven’t seen one of those in... nearly two hundred years.”

“Yes, I’m not a _normal_ Korean Tiger,” Minho said scathingly. “I have an extra stripe.” He pointed to his nose. “Because I’m _better.”_

“Ah but Great Korean Tigers don’t bite any octopuses. Ok?” Chan said. He must have heard about the incident this morning. “Or humans or witches or werewolves or fae or any other animals. Yes?”

“I have to bite _something,”_ Minho exclaimed as he tried to wriggle free. “I’m a _carnivore.”_

“You can eat the pig I caught for dinner at the supermarket,” Chan compromised. “And some vegetables.”

“But I’m a carnivore!”

“Vegetables are meat,” Chan argued, putting Minho down again. “They are plant meat.”

Minho narrowed his eyes. “Ok,” he said eventually and ran off again. Jisung sighed. He had about six minutes before Minho would be back to drag him into whatever game he was playing. He was cute but exhausting.

“Long day, Sungie?” Chan asked, holding his still-glittery arms open. Jisung stumbled into his embrace head first. Chan was unusually warm thanks to the sun’s rays and it only improved the quality of an already-great hug.

“He doesn’t stop,” he mumbled into Chan’s shoulder. “I just want to sit still.”

“Want to come to my room and watch some very important anime?” Chan offered. “I think hot chocolate is also required.” Jisung tightened his grip on Chan’s waist. That sounded so good he could cry.

“Just us?” he asked shyly.

“I can push the chest of drawers in front of the door so not even Innie could get in,” Chan suggested.

“Innie can join,” Jisung allowed. “I think he’s been trying to escape today too.”

“We can ask Innie then,” Chan said, letting Jisung go. He glanced at the time on Jisung’s watch. “I think we can shut the shop now so you go find what you want to binge. I’ll be down with hot chocolate as soon as I’ve found Jinnie and caught him up.”

“He was helping Seungminnie with his summer homework,” Jisung told him. Both of them had been far too earnest about it for Jisung’s liking and he was even more glad he’d dropped out of school.

“Summer homework?” Chan asked, grimacing. “Already?”

“They go back a week on Monday,” Jisung reminded him. Seungmin had been working on his since the holidays started and by the sound of it Hyunjin would have to cram to finish it all when he eventually got panicked enough to look out what he was supposed to do.

“Already?” Chan repeated. “We didn’t even get out of the city.”

“ _We_ didn’t,” Jisung said. “Woojinnie-hyung and Innie went to the forest and Lix went to Australia.”

“I wanna go to Australia,” Chan huffed.

“We should go in the winter holiday,” Jisung suggested. “Then we get Australian summer.”

Chan hummed contentedly as he imagined it. “Yeah, let’s do that. You’ll have to work really hard until then though. Flights will be expensive.”

“You and Hyunjinnie can swim and Lix and Minnie can go via the fae world,” Jisung said. “Minho too maybe. Then we only have to buy four seats”

“ _Or_ you could work hard and we can all fly.” Chan had no sense of adventure.

“Flying?” Felix asked, swinging through the doorway from the workshop with a bright grin. He’d thankfully been convinced to put a tshirt back on since the last time Jisung had seen him and the glitter outlining his abs was no longer visible. Changbin had been mortified when he’d seen it and walked into a wall before running out of the house without even an excuse as to where he was going.

“In a plane,” Chan said hurriedly. “The buses with still wings. We were talking about going to Australia this winter.”

Felix narrowed his eyes. “Winter is the time it’s cold here?”

“Yeah, and it’s summer in Australia.” Jisung tried to help. “It’s winter in Australia now.”

Felix’s frown only deepened. “ _I don’t get it,”_ he said quietly in Fae.It was Time again, Felix’s worst enemy.

 _“So it’s_ August _now,”_ Chan explained slowly. He stole some of Jisung’s pens and a blank sheet of paper to draw out the calendar. “August _is hottest in Korea and coldest in Australia. In_ January _,”_ Chan drew a swooping line across the calendar, “ _it’s very cold in Korea and hot in Australia.”_

“Ok,” Felix said hesitantly. “...Why?”

“Because it’s far away,” Jisung said quickly before Chan could go off on a nerd rant about the rotations of the Earth on its axis around the sun. Felix would probably find it all very interesting but Jisung didn’t have time for that conversation right now. He flipped the sign on the door so no more customers would come in and held Felix’s hands together in a begging position. “Lixie, my favourite twin, can you please distract Minho for like, two hours?”

“I’m your only twin,” Felix replied. His frown hadn’t left.

“Lixie, _my favourite twin.”_ Jisung emphasised again, pulling Felix’s hands up and down as he spoke. _“Please_ distract Minho. I’ve had him literally from the minute I woke up this morning and I can’t take any more questions.”

“He’s cute,” Felix said. Jisung was going to smack his head off the table if he didn’t agree soon.

“SUNGIE!!” came an excited call. His nickname got added vibrato from the body producing it bounding it’s way down the stairs.

“I love you, distract him,” Jisung said quickly and ran for Chan’s room.

“Where’s Sungie?” Jisung heard Minho ask petulantly seconds later.

“He’s busy now,” Chan said gently. “Why don’t you show Lixie what you wanted to show Sungie?” Jisung waited with bated breath by the door. This was it, his moment of freedom.

“Ok!” Minho said happily. “Lixie, come. Hyunjinnie made…” his voice trailed off as he dragged Felix back up the stairs. Chan’s head poked around the door seconds later. 

“Coast is clear,” he said with a wink. The glitter sparkled. “You know my password, get set up, I’ll be back in a minute.”


	35. i<3theocean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I miss the seeeeaaaaaa

Jisung crawled to the middle of the Dads’ bed and pulled the duvet out of its neat position. When he'd created a nice little cocoon he then reached out to collect Chan's laptop from the bedside table. There were far too many cables attached and he was afraid to ruin what Chan might be working on so he carefully unplugged the headphones and the charging cable and carried the rest of it in both hands back to the middle of the bed. 

Chan’s password hadn’t changed in years despite how confidential some of the content was. I<3theocean. Capital and lowercase letters, number, symbol, more than eight characters long. It would be a pretty secure password except even the most fleeting acquaintances of Chan’s heard about how he missed the ocean. Not to mention the bleached blonde hair and the board shorts. And the surfer hand sign. If Chan was trying to blend in as a Korean he was doing a horrible job. 

His laptop background was also a picture of the beach but at least it was a Korean beach with Korean children (mostly). Jisung was buried up to his chest in the sand and Changbin was standing over him, one foot on Jisung’s shoulder as he brandished a shovel with a manic grin. Jisung could practically hear his giggles through the screen. 

InMinJin weren’t dating when the picture was taken but you wouldn’t be able to tell from how entangled they were. Jeongin and Hyunjin were hauling a protesting Seungmin towards the water except it was more that a shifted Hyunjin was restricting all of Seungmin’s limbs while poor Jeongin had to try and move their combined weight by himself. The skid lines on the wet sand showed that he hadn’t gotten very far but he was still valiantly pulling with all his might while Seungmin and Hyunjin were a little blurry with how much they had been moving as they tried to one-up each other.

Felix was much blurrier but his wings couldn’t be mistaken for anything else, fully outstretched along with his arms and his legs as he tried to stay in the air for a second longer. Woojin, who had just launched Felix into the air, was standing with his hands on his hips admiring the view as Felix hurtled towards Jisung. 

Minho hadn’t joined them yet when they took that trip to the beach but if he had Jisung couldn’t decide which chaos he would be a part of. Would he have helped Chan and Changbin bury Jisung? Would he have deliberately aimed Felix at Jisung instead of accidently like Woojin had? Or would he have balanced out the odds of Seungmin ending up in the water by tickling Hyunjin in his weak spots? Whatever he did Jisung was sure it would be adding to the chaos and not mitigating it. He fit right in.

Jeongin interrupted his musings by skittering through the door, his claws not getting a grip on the wooden floor, and barrelling on the bed with an impressive leap.

“Channie-hyung told you we’re watching anime?” Jisung asked him. Anime wasn’t exactly Jeongin’s style and neither were cuddle piles but he would put up with them for peaceful company every once in a while. Jeongin headbutted his hand and curled up on Jisung’s lap. Jisung had to resist the urge to bury his face in Jeongin’s fur and instead settled for scratching him between the ears. Jeongin yawned, revealing lines of sharply pointed teeth.

“Ah, you don’t care what anime it is?” Jisung said, deliberately misinterpreting tiredness for indifference. “Death Note?” Jeongin growled. “Attack on Titan? Another growl. Jisung wasn’t going to get to watch anything good. He sighed in resignation. “Gundam?” Jeongin wiggled happily. “You are the worst,” Jisung told him but dutifully searched for the show. Jisung preferred horror but given Jeongin’s recent brush with death he could allow the shifter boy to pick just this once.

***

Chan came into the room to Jisung angrily saying “How the fuck do you expect me to know which one you want? Grow some hands and do it yourself!” It wasn’t Jisung’s finest moment.

“Language,” Chan said but he was laughing. He carefully set two mugs on the bedside table and went back to shut the door, shouldering the chest of drawers across for good measure.

“He wants to watch Gundam but there’s like a million versions and apparently I don’t have the right one,” Jisung grumbled. He pushed the laptop away. “I give up.”

“He’s right, Innie,” Chan said, carefully passing Jisung a mug once his back was against the headboard. “If you want to express your opinion you need to shift back.” Jeongin rolled onto his back dramatically at that and then did a second roll, sending him off the bed.

His human head popped back up after a second of some of the worst sounds Jisung had ever heard. Unfortunately, Jisung had heard these sounds many times before. Jeongin was lucky his ears were non-functional while he shifted because having to hear the snapping and squelching every time would put anybody off shifting for life. 

“That one,” Jeongin said, reaching across the bed to click pointedly on one of the options Jisung had pulled up. “Obviously.” He raked his hair back into position and cracked a bone in his neck. “Channie-hyung can I borrow clothes?”

“Of course,” Chan replied and dug through the pile on a nearby chair, throwing sweatpants and a shirt towards him. 

“Your sweatpants are a bit short,” Jeongin commented as he stood to crawl back onto the bed.

“I am not short!” Chan protested.

“Do your sweatpants fit you?” Jeongin asked, lifting Chan’s arm and setting himself under it. Jisung loaded the episode and pulled up his knees to lean into Chan’s other side.

“Yes,” Chan replied hesitantly.

“You’re short,” Jeongin informed him. “I’m not even the tallest in my class.”

“Your class must be abnormally tall then,” Chan decided. “I was tall for my age when I was growing up.”

“Everyone was malnourished when you were growing up though,” Jisung pointed out. “I bet you didn’t even have potatoes.”

“We did have potatoes!” Chan said though there was some hesitance in his voice.

“But?” Jeongin prompted, grinning.

“They were very new,” Chan admitted. “So they were quite expensive most of the time. We ate more rice. The currency was also changing a lot…” Chan got lost in his memories easily when this happened so Jisung elbowed him in the ribs.

“Hyung! Gundam,” They could hear about rum again some other time.

“Yeah, sorry,” Chan shook his head to clear the memory and pressed play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also Does anybody have anime suggestions? Ive watched FMA too many times and I need to branch out. I've seen like half of death note. Couldn't watch Free! bc it was inaccurate and saw Ouran High under duress


	36. Our little constipated gay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow that was so many anime recommendations- thank you all!! Also someone said tower of god- i hear the theme songs for that are pretty good.

Jisung slowly shifted towards horizontal as the show continued to play. Chan just moved a pillow underneath Jisung’s head and kept up drawing patterns on his scalp as Jisung started to doze off. Jisung stopped trying to follow the plot and just watched the colourful flashes to distract himself from his own thoughts. It was so soothing he’s almost entirely forgotten about the world outside the room until a harried knock sounded at the door. It was only two raps so it wasn’t Woojin. Jisung didn’t really want to see anybody else right now. Well, maybe Felix, but he would have to subdued which was unlikely right now given all the food he brought back from his travels and his excitement to be home again.

“State your name, race and purpose?” Chan called out. He was in a playful mood. Jisung wasn’t and he turned his face into Chan’s thigh with a whine.

“Little bit racist there, Channie-hyung,” Jeongin commented mildly. “Why does their race matter?” Chan ignored him.

“Uhh, Changbin?” Changbin said hesitantly from the other side of the door. “Dwarf. And, my life purpose? I’ve not worked that one out yet..” he said, trailing off. Jisung could hear him shuffling his feet, something he did when he needed to pee or couldn’t make a decision. Jisung sincerely hoped he wanted access to the room because of the later.

“Your purpose of knocking,” Chan clarified loudly. “You’re disrupting an important meeting.”

“I just... wanted… a hug, but I’ll go upstairs.” Chan slammed Jisung into the bed in his rush to get to the door. Jisung wasn’t hurt physically but he felt a little put out. He thought the whole point of this was to have quiet cuddles _without_ interruption.

Chan pulled the chest of drawers back too quickly and there was a horrible screech as the legs scraped along the floor. He ignored it and lunged through the doorway to pull a startled Changbin into his embrace. Changbin’s feet came off the floor and he stiffened his Chan’s grip, eyes wide.

“ _Hyung,”_ Jisung moaned, making sure Chan saw the position he had discarded Jisung in.

“Sorry Sung,” Chan said, waddling over to deposit Changbin between Jeongin and Jisung. “Binnie needed hugs.”

“ _A_ hug,” Changbin grumbled, getting to his hands and knees and turning around to join Jeongin and Jisung in glaring at Chan. “One hug. It wasn’t a big deal. I could just go find Jinnie.”

“Nuh uh,” Chan said cheerfully, shutting the door again and pushing the chest of drawers back into place. _Great,_ it looked like they were all trapped here. “I heard your tone, Binnie- something’s wrong. You don’t have to say what it is right now but until you feel better you’re staying.”

“Are you saying there’s something wrong with me too?” Jeongin asked, affronted. He let Changbin tuck himself under his arm though as he straightened his back to confront Chan.

“No,” Chan drew out the word with an eye roll as he jumped onto the bed, jostling them all and getting even more glares for it. “Jisung thought you might also appreciate some time out from other members of the household. Was he wrong?”

“Don’t pin this on me!” Jisung protested. Jeongin could turn into a bear now- Jisung had to stay on his good side. 

“ _You_ are just trying to keep me away from Seungminnie-hyung and Hyunjinnie-hyung,” Jeongin accused Chan. “I came here for the anime.”

“That’s not what this is,” Chan said exasperatedly. “You’re welcome to go upstairs if you’d rather be there.”

Jeongin’s glare deepened. Chan had him in a stalemate. Jisung knew with Seungmin studying and everyone else busy, Hyunjin had been pestering Jeongin a little too much today. He’d known Jeongin a lot longer than Hyunjin had and he could read a fox’s body language better than the other boy. Normally Jeongin would make his feeling very clear but he seemed reluctant to do that with Hyunjin today and Jisung had been too busy with Minho to intervene and point out that raised fur wasn’t a good thing.

“I’ll stay here,” Jeongin said eventually. “ _But_ you need to stop separating us, Hyung. Don’t pretend you aren’t- Jisungie-hyung sees it too.”

“I’m not-” Chan sighed. “I’m trying to help,” he said. He sounded sincere. “I really am. You’re all so young and I don’t want you to hurt each other.”

“Felix-hyung is the same age as Seungminnie-hyung and Hyunjinnie-hyung!” Jeongin argued. “You think _I’m_ too young but I’m less than a year younger than them and tonnes of people in my year are dating. I’m not a baby!”

“You’re _all_ too young,” Chan said. Of course he would think that. He was nearly as old as _potatoes._ “I’m not saying you’re with the wrong people or you’re going to regret it or anything _but_ it’s your first relationship, for you, and for Seungminnie and Hyunjinnie, and for Binnie in his. You-”

“Timeout!” Jisung interrupted, holding his hands in a T. “It’s not Lix’s first relationship?”

“No,” Changbin said a little grumpily. “He’s done everything before and I won’t even kiss him properly. He’s never going to stay with me.” Jisung turned to Chan with wide eyes, suddenly very glad someone mature and experienced was present. He’d love to say _‘no, Lix loves you. He’ll never leave you_ ’ with confidence. However, Lix was fae and Jisung hadn’t spoken to the boy properly since he and Changbin got together to be sure that was true. Jisung really didn’t want to be part of the reason Changbin ended up with a broken heart by giving the wrong advice.

“Binnie,” Chan said gently, thankfully taking the lead. “You’ve known Lix nearly two years and in that time has he ever shown any sign of being bored of you?”

“No,” Changbin said quickly, “but-”

“Then why would he stop wanting to be your boyfriend because you’re not ready to kiss him yet?”

“Because that’s what boyfriends _do!”_ Changbin exploded. “He’ll just want to be my friend and go find someone else to kiss!”

“Like Minnie-hyung,” Jeongin muttered and Changbin pulled back from him, looking horrified. 

“What?!”

“Whoops,” Jeongin said, laughing slightly. “Lix and Minnie-hyung kissed.” He offered the information with a nervous half-smile. “Before you got together, I think.” The vital additional was a little too late.

Changbin flopped down on the bed with an anguished wail. “It’s already happened.”

Chan patted his back consolingly as he raised his eyebrows at Jeongin. Jeongin nodded, confirming his statement, and Chan pulled a face of comically exaggerated surprise. He was enjoying this gossip too much for someone trying to stop his kids getting together.

“Lixie isn’t leaving you, Binnie,” Chan told the pancake of angst in the middle of the bed. “I told you at the start that he’s used to more casual relationships but that doesn’t mean he’s not serious with you.”

“He put glitter on his six-pack and I ran into a wall,” Changbin wailed into the duvet.

“What?” Chan asked, missing the words through Changbin’s dramatics.

“Felix outlined his abs in glitter,” Jisung explained. “He was walking around without a t-shirt on to show it off and Binnie-hyung ran into a wall when he saw. It was really funny.”

Changbin flipped over. “I wasn’t ready!” he moaned loudly. “He can’t just _do_ things like that.”

“You’re seen Lix-hyung without a shirt before though?” Jeongin said and kicked Changbin’s flailing leg out of his space.

“This is different,” Changbin said. “You don’t get it because you’re naked all the time.” His face was getting redder with every word. Jisung was loving it. “Lix is..” Changbin hid his face in his hands and kicked his legs like a toddler having a tantrum.

“You are a disaster,” Jisung told him proudly, patting Changbin’s head. “Our little constipated gay.”

“This is why I didn’t bother trying to separate Changlix when they got together,” Chan told Jeongin quietly, indicating Changbin’s state.

“So you _were_ trying to separate us!” Jeongin exclaimed. “I knew it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chan's requirements for adoptees: sad past, shorter than him, disaster gay


	37. The Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!PLEASE READ!!!
> 
> I was concerned that the content of this chapter might push this fic's rating to M. It's not as explicit as I thought it would be but there is mention of characters currently underage potentially participating in sexual activities in the future. It is no more that passing mentions in a discussion about their developing relationship and so I have left the rating at T as I was taught sex ed beyond this level by 13 y/o at school but if you don't want to read you can skip the chapter, I'll summarise the plot points in the end note

“Ok, ok, ok,” Chan said loudly. “Everybody calm down. Changbin, sit up, _breathe_.” He waited until they were all paying attention and Changbin’s face had stopped doing _that_ before he began. “I was kind of hoping that the internet would do this job for me but I guess it’s time you all got The Talk.” Jisung made a bolt for the door but Chan was faster and pushed him back down into his seat.

“I don’t need The Talk!” Jisung exclaimed, still trying to escape. “I’m single! Permanently!”

“Your fiance is going to be very upset to hear that,” Jeongin quipped, eye glinting evilly as he grinned at Jisung. That little shit was spending too much time with Seungmin. Jisung would punch him but he was too far away and Chan was still watching him.

“ _Fiance?”_ Changbin echoed, looking at Jisung as if he’d grown horns. “What’s been _happening_?”

Jisung rolled his eyes. “I’m not engaged. Minho just said the other day that he was going to marry me when he grows up. He also said today that he was a tiger. It doesn’t mean anything.” Tiny Minho was serious about a lot of things, like owning a hundred cats and making his own toast. His determination to marry Jisung when he was older was nothing for Jisung to get his hopes up about, although a tiny voice in the back of his head pointed out that Adult Minho was also very serious about owning a hundred cats and making his own toast. 

“The engagement explains why he was asking me all those questions about rings,” Changbin mused.

“He didn’t,” Jisung groaned.

“Yeah. He had a lot of questions about gold,” Changbin grinned. It was Jisung’s turn to face-plant the duvet. He _really_ shouldn’t have told Minho he had a crush on Adult-him, or agreed to marry him. That was probably the bigger mistake- saying he’d marry Minho if he got a pretty enough ring. Of course Minho was going to find a pretty ring, they lived with a jeweller.

“So now we’ve established that you all need The Talk, can we get this over with?” Chan asked, sitting Jisung back up. “I don’t want to have this conversation as much as you do.”

“Is this going to be the gay sex version?” Jeongin asked. Chan went red and his hands went through about ten different gestures before he collected himself.

“Ok, first,” Chan said, hands tugging at his red ears. “No sex until you’re twenty. Of any kind.”

“There are different kinds?” Jeongin asked but he was grinning again. How was their innocent maknae the most comfortable out of all of them?

“Uhhh,” Chan said, panicking. “Yes. But I’m not telling you about them.” Jisung had a feeling that if he fed Chan blood right now all of it would immediately relocate to his face. “Also- oh god, I can’t do this.” If Chan was using human expressions he must be really flustered.

“Yeah you can,” Jeongin said, ducking his head to force Chan to make eye contact. He was using this as free entertainment more than anything. “No sex before twenty. What else? Always wear protection?”

“Ye- well, no. But-” Chan was really losing it now. Jisung decided to join in.

“Does jacking off in the same room count because Jeongin and Hyu-”

Chan cut him off by screaming and waving his hands in panic.

“But does it count?” Jisung asked when Chan paused to breathe.

“I don’t know,” Chan whined. “And I’d really rather not have to think about it please.”

“What?” Jeongin teased. “Me and Hyun-” Chan put a hand over his mouth.

“Stop, you horrible child.” Chan told him. “Two years before you do anything more than kiss that boy, ok? Or Seungminnie. Or any other boy.” This felt a little like a Shakespearian play and Jisung could see more than one way Jeongin could exploit those conditions to do what he wanted. And if Jisung could find loopholes, Seungmin would be able to stroll through Chan’s defenses with his eyes shut and take whatever he wanted.

“So are Hyunjinnie-hyung and Seungminnie-hyung allowed to do stuff without me when they turn twenty?” Jeongin asked once his mouth was set free again. “That’s not fair- their birthdays are made up. I bet Hyunjinnie-hyung is actually younger than me.”

“That is a conversation for the three of you-” Chan broke off his suggestion and snapped his fingers. “That’s what I meant to talk to you about!” 

“Hyunjin and Seungmin fucking?” Jisung asked judgmentally.

“No!” Chan said exasperatedly. “Terra, why did I ever choose to adopt more people after you three? Communication! I wanted to talk about communication.”

“You’re not doing a very good job yourself right now, Hyung,” Changbin commented. They really were horrible children.

“I am _doing my best,”_ Chan said, thumping the duvet between them to emphasise his point. He turned to Changbin with determination in his eyes. “Ok, so _you_ need to talk to Felix. He will be more than happy to do things differently with you if you just _tell_ him what you’re not comfortable with. He doesn’t know what level of interaction is acceptable when and I think he’s been using me and Woojin as a baseline. Sorry about that.” Chan had the decency to look apologetic for a second before plowing on. “Also, maybe go over exclusivity again since apparently he and Seungmin...” Chan left the sentence for them to finish on their own since nobody was entirely sure _what_ Felix and Seungmin had been up to.

Changbin looked mortified. “Can’t you talk to him?” he pleaded to Chan.

“About what you want?” Chan smiled in amusement. “No, Binnie. You’ve got to do that one yourself. Learning to communicate is really important, believe me. Almost every single fight I’ve had with Jinnie wouldn’t have happened if we just talked to each other about what was going on.”

Changbin pouted. “He’ll think I’m being a baby,” he muttered.

“You are,” Jisung said, reaching out to tickle Changbin under the chin. “Baby Changbin, scared of his boyfriend’s six-pack.”

“Jisung,” Chan said firmly. “Cultural differences can be discussed but not mocked.”

“But it’s funny!” Jisung protested. “Lix wasn’t even trying to be sexy.”

“There was glitter. On his abs,” Changbin gritted out. “He looked like an _angel_.”

“You tell him that, sweetie,” Chan said, patting him on the head. He then turned to the youngest. “Innie- you also need to talk to your boys, make sure you’re all on the same page. You don’t all have to go at the same pace but you have to make sure everyone is ok with it. Woojinnie and I were also talking about doing a roommate rotation-” Chan held up a hand as Jeongin opened his mouth to protest. “Not just with the intention of separating you and Hyunjinnie but so that Seungminnie isn’t the odd one out. You’re free to bedshare like Changlix _if_ you behave but it would be unfair to Seungmin to leave it as it is. Does that sound reasonable?”

Jeongin hung his head and picked at the cord of his sweatpants. “Yeah. I hadn’t thought about that,” he admitted reluctantly. Jeongin missed the fond look Chan sent him but Jisung didn’t.

“I know you’re not going to listen to me but don’t rush this,” Chan advised. “You were best friends first and I’d hate for that to be ruined-”

“That’s not going to happen,” Jeongin said firmly. He’d pulled his knees up to his chest and was hugging them tightly. “We promised- friends first.” Jisung could see how it might be a sensitive topic given how close the three of them had been to entirely falling out and he was glad to hear they were making sure that wouldn’t happen again. It had been awful for everyone to see them all hurting and he couldn’t imagine what it would be like if they fell out permanently. He couldn’t pick a side when they were all his brothers.

“Ok,” Chan said, accepting Jeongin’s claim easily. That didn’t stop him from adding a final warning. “Don’t bottle things up though. Even if you think it’s irrational you can always come to me or Jinnie and I’m sure Binnie and Sung would try to help if you asked them.” Jisung nodded enthusiastically. He was the last person to come to for relationship advice but if Jeongin wanted his opinion he would do his utmost best to help.

“Maybe _you_ can give _me_ advice about having a fae boyfriend,” Changbin joked, nudging Jeongin with his shoulder. 

“I’ll let you know when I’ve worked it out,” Jeongin said.

“They’ll want kisses just to give their mouth something to do,” Chan said, seemingly without thinking.

“ _Channie-hyung,”_ Jisung said, astonished. Changbin and Jeongin were equally dumbstruck.

“What?” Chan said. “You know I’m old. I’ve dated people other than Jinnie and some of them were fae. If they’re bored, they’ll try and kiss you. Binnie, that’s another reason you need to talk to Lix.”

“This explains so much,” Jeongin whispered, missing the final addition as he stared off into space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary:  
> -Minho has been asking Changbin about an engagement ring for Jisung  
> -Chan panics about telling them any explicits  
> \- Chan encourages Changbin and Jeongin to talk to their SOs about comfort levels etc  
> \- Changbin thinks Felix looks like an angel with glitter on his abs  
> \- Chan says they will room switch to make sure all of InMinJin are split up so its fair  
> \- read the last 7 paragraphs


	38. Nobody is sucking any balls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is shorter than normal but i dont think you'll mind

“Jisung,” Chan said cheerfully.

“No,” Jisung replied. He didn’t need a stupid intervention about talking to his boyfriend because he _didn’t have a boyfriend._

“Yes,” Chan countered. “I know Minho has been helping you so much these last few months with controlling your core magic and losing that support right now-”

“ _SUCKS,”_ Jisung cut in. Chan didn’t know the half of it. _He_ should try turning his best friend into a five-year old, realising he is in love with said best friend and then having 5-year old best friend _propose._ Oh, and on top of all that he had to do _another_ spell nobody in the history of witches had ever managed without killing Minho. “It sucks _balls,_ Channie-hyung.”

“Nobody is sucking any balls,” Chan said with mock sternness and Changbin giggled nervously. If Felix ever did decide to seduce Changbin, Changbin was a goner. Jisung turned to look at Changbin squarely and held eye contact for a second, waiting for the perfect timing.

“Balls.”

Changbin giggled again and Jisung made a show of slowly shaking his head. Poor Felix.

Chan sighed. “Bin, keep it together.”

“You made a joke!” Changbin protested. “You can’t expect me not to laugh!”

“Sorry, my mistake,” Chan said dryly. “I’ll keep this professional.” He rolled his eyes at Jisung before folding his hands in his lap. He straightened his back in the best impression of a serious meeting he could manage in gym clothes, covered in glitter, sitting cross legged on a bed. It was surprisingly effective. “Han-ssi, should you require relief from childcare duties I advise you notify another member of the household who will be more than willing to assist you in these trying times. Hyunjin-ssi has also brought to my attention that you may feel you are without a support system.” _What a snitch_. “I would like to assure you that we are here for you-”

Jisung kicked him. “Stop that. It’s creepy, Hyung.”

“Han-ssi, your wellbeing-” Chan continued, a smile twitching as his character started to crack. Jisung kicked him again.

“Hyung! You sound like those men at the council building.” The ones that had been very reluctant to allow Chan to take Jisung under his wing instead drafting him into the same programme Chan had been in. They had used a lot of words to make it sound like they cared when they didn’t and Jisung didn’t appreciate the reminder.

“Where do you think I learnt it?” Chan tilted his head and grinned. He was like a dog looking for praise for a trick. Jisung batted Chan on the arm weakly.

“Unlearn it,” he told him.

“I’ll try,” Chan said sincerely. “You keep me on the right path, Sung.” Chan claimed that Jisung had saved him but Jisung didn’t really see it. Yes, this Chan laughed easier than the Chan he first met and he was more open to people now, but that wasn’t Jisung’s doing. That was just because he quit his shitty job and stopped having the Council breathing down his neck.

“Sure, I’ll call you out if you start acting weird again,” Jisung said dismissively. Where even was the line these days? Four years ago things had started getting weird and it just hadn’t stopped escalating from then. He would like to think there was a limit to it all but, as Hyunjin liked to remind him, Jisung regularly broke the laws of physics and there were enough emotions pouring out of him to fill an ocean...

“And you’ll tell me if you need help,” Chan prompted him, his voice barely penetrating the fog of Jisung’s swirling thoughts.

“Uh huh,” Jisung said absently. “Can you move the chest of drawers? I need to get my drawing. And Minho. Someone get Minho.”


	39. Sweatpants, an energy drink, and an injection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in an attempt to minimize confusion I have written Fae in this chapter (only used once) as bold and italics. any italics is just normal emphasis. 
> 
> dont worry if you dont get the bit about elvish. jisung is lost so you can be too. when i need to understand ill have a better explanation

“SUNGIE!” Minho cried happily, barrelling towards Jisung as fast as his socks could carry him. 

“Hiya, Minho,” Jisung said, turning just in time to catch him under the arms and swing him into the air. He set Minho back down on the table on top of his scattered notes. “Did you have fun with Lixie?”

“YES!” Minho grinned wildly. The glitter on his face was smeared, neat tiger stripes gone, and it only amplified the crazy look in his eyes. Felix must have been sharing his stash of alien food.

“What did you do?” Jisung asked to buy time for Chan to reappear. The sun had set while they were watching tv and as an added precaution Jisung had asked that they lit the shop by candlelight instead of electricity. The delicate flames flickered on the bookshelves, and were bounced around the room by Changbin’s gems, giving the room an underwater atmosphere. Minho, in the middle of it all, was like a sparkling fish and Jisung was sure he looked just as ridiculous. 

“I was teaching Lixie Elvish so we can talk in secret,” Minho said. “Lixie is really good at it.” Felix had followed Minho from upstairs and was watching them from the cash counter. He smiled at that. 

“It’s Fae,” he told Jisung. “Fae words said with Korean syllables. The sounds don’t fit, obviously, so it sounds _awful_ but I can mostly guess at what he’s trying to say. So ‘ _ **this’**_ in Fae becomes ‘stand’." On the last word Felix let his Fae accent bleed through a little more, like it was when he first joined them. Minho’s head perked up and he rattled off a load of gibberish to Felix. Felix shook his head and replied in Koean.

“I’m trying to teach Sungie how to speak Elvish since he can speak Korean and Fae.”

“That sounded nothing like Korean _or_ Fae,” Jisung argued.

“Yeah.” Felix rolled his eyes. “Elvish is Fae with Korean syllables. I just told you that.”

“My Fae isn’t that great,” Jisung admitted. “But I can speak Korean and there was no Korean in that.”

“Not Korean words, Korean _sounds_ ,” Felix said. Jisung was still skeptical.

“Ok. So ‘stand’?”

“‘Stand’,” Felix repeated, his cute accent coming back. “Not ‘stand’” The accent was gone. “‘Stand’”. It was back again. Jisung’s Fae accent had never been good.

“‘Stand’” Minho said as well, helpfully pointing to the pen in Jisung’s hand. Now he was even more confused.

“What does it mean?” he asked. Chan came through from the back and held up the t-shirt Jisung had asked for. Jisung held up a hand, intending to indicate for Chan to just leave it but Chan seemed to take that as an invitation to lob it at Jisung’s face. Thankfully it was only cotton.

“It means ‘this’,” Felix explained as Jisung fumbled to catch the t-shirt. _‘Stand’ meant ‘this’? How did anybody ever learn this language._

“Sure,” Jisung replied. “Min, can you put this on?” he asked, holding up the t-shirt. “I don’t want your nice new clothes to get messy.” Minho took the t-shirt eagerly and started trying to squirm his way out of his hoodie without letting it go. Jisung had to help him.

“What are we doing, Sungie?” Minho asked as he stuck his arm through the collar, followed by his head. Jisung pushed him back into the garment with a palm to the top of his head and guided his arms into the sleeves. “Are we drawing?” Minho asked. Chan reappeared quietly with a small bundle- sweatpants, an energy drink and a glucagon injection- and subtly placed them on a chair out of Minho’s sight.

“It’s a secret,” Jisung told Minho.

“Who do you want here?” Chan asked in a low tone. “Me?”

“Seungminnie?” Jisung replied quietly, knowing Chan would hear. At the same time Minho had reached down to grab one of Jisung’s sketches.

“This secret?” he asked very loudly, shoving the paper in Jisung’s face.

“Yes, that secret,” Jisung said as Felix and Chan left the room. Felix sent him three different kinds of hearts with his hands as he went and Jisung had to bite his cheek so he wouldn’t react and alert Minho to the change.

“Speaking of secrets,” Jisung said dramatically. “ _You_ still owe me one. Do you remember?” Minho frowned for a second, distracted enough that Jisung could rescue his sketch, before his face lit up again.

“Yes! I have to tell you a secret about you because you told me a secret about me!”

“That’s right!” Jisung said. “Can you think quietly for a minute of something to tell me while I speak to Seungminnie.” Minho nodded and flopped down onto the table. It looked like it would have hurt but Minho didn’t show any side that he’d even noticed, his eyebrows drawn as he thought hard.

“You’ve got a plan?” Seungmin whispered, sidling up to Jisung. He was breathing heavily from having just run down the stairs but was doing his best to hide it. They both automatically stayed facing Minho, knowing now from experience that good things never happened when he got out of sight.

“Ehh, kind of,” Jisung replied. He didn’t have to put up a front with Seungmin, pretending that he knew what he was doing. Seungmin had seen how little he knew what he was doing the first time. “I took away his age via his soul so I’ll aim for his soul again. I was focused before on removing what I thought was the curse so this time I’ll focus on building. It’s either going to make the curse stronger or age him back.”

“You think so?” Seungmin said. In front of them Minho was distracted by Jisung’s sketches though he obviously didn’t fully understand them as he was holding one upside down.

“Yeah.” Jisung didn’t share all the other ways it might go wrong that he’d considered. Seungmin would talk him out of it if he knew. “Can you draw the circle again? I know I didn’t manage to push it into the curse last time but it might be important.”

“The same?” Seungmin asked. “It was an unlocking symbol. Are you sure that’s what you want?” Jisung bit the end of his fingernail as he considered it. It didn’t fit with the spell he was trying to do but a locking symbol would be worse. He might accidentally trap Minho at this age forever.

“Fuck it. Leave the circle,” Jisung decided. “Just tell me when to stop, yeah?” Seungmin was good at masking his emotions but Jisung could tell he was scared. Strangely it made him more confident. “Can you handle that, Minnie? I’ll do all the heavy lifting and you can tell your Dad you conducted the first ageing spell with just a single word.”

“Be careful,” Seungmin said, grabbing Jisung's wrist. “For you, be careful. Don’t use up all your magic.”

Jisung grinned. “That part, I do have a plan for.” He raised his voice. “Min, have you found a secret yet?”

“It’s not a good enough one,” Minho said crossly. “Your secret was very special so my secret has to be very special.”

“What about the secret I know,” Seungmin suggested. “Did you tell Sungie that one yet?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone can actually keep track of all the secrets in this house i salute you


	40. Like kisses on the inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First of: this chapter is posted <24hr after the previous one so you might need to go back and read that first
> 
> also, fun fact. the fae/elvish/korean nonsense i was using was based on the word 'Seo' Seo is obvs changbin's surname but it is also the gaelic word meaning 'this' and it is pronouced kind of like 'show in english. 'Chan' is also a gaelic word and it is pronouced like 'Han'

“What about the secret I know,” Seungmin suggested. “Did you tell Sungie that one yet?” 

“ _No,”_ Minho said. “If I tell Sungie, then Sungie will know.” Jisung couldn’t fault his logic there. “And Sungie can’t know until he’s twenty.” Ok, what did _that_ mean?

“He’s twenty soon,” Seungmin argued. “Only half a year left. And it would be a _really_ good secret.” Jisung was pretty sure this was edging towards the warzone that ended with them all duct taped before but he was too out of the loop to be sure. What kind of secret about _him_ did Seungmin know?

“But he has to be twenty,” Minho argued.

“Ok,” Seungmin said, not put off. “What other secrets are there about Sungie…”

“Sungie likes head pats,” Minho said proudly.

“Sungie, did you know you like head pats?” Seungmin asked teasingly.

“I did know that,” Jisung admitted. Seungmin hadn’t known though. At this rate he was going to have a whole now arsonal to use against Jisung before they found a worthy secret.

“He knew that one,” Seungmin told Minho. “Keep thinking.”

“Sungie has drawings hidden under his bed,” Minho tried, many ‘secrets’ later.

“Does he?” Seungmin asked, interested.

“Yes,” Jisung gritted out. He hadn’t known Minho was aware of that. “Minho, it has to be a secret I don’t know.”

“But you know them all,” Minho whined.

“Ok, let me try to help,” Seungmin said. He’d sat down when it became apparent that this was going to take a while and he grabbed Minho by the ankles to turn the boy to face him. “How about I tell you a secret about Hyunjinnie and you can try and find one like that about Sung?”

“Tell me, tell me,” Minho said. Jisung was glad he’d cleared his sketches off of the table because Minho drumming his heels in excitement would definitely have ripped them. Minho had missed the point of Seungmin sharing a secret entirely but Jisung couldn’t blame him. He was curious too.

“Ok,” Seungmin said. He propped his chin on his hand and under candlelight in a pastel hoodie and glitter brushed over his eyelids he was the picture of innocence. If you didn’t know his mind, that is. “So it has to be something Jinnie doesn’t know that he does or something related to Jinnie that he doesn’t know about yet.” Seungmin mused. “I’m going to pick the first kind since the secret you don’t want to tell is the other kind, ok?”

“Ok,” Minho echoed, staring up at Seungmin as if he was hanging the stars.

“Hyunjinnie is least aware of what he does when he’s shifted because he doesn’t do it in public so I can use something to do with that,” Seungmin explained. It was a little disconcerting to hear how clinical Seungmin’s method was. He probably knew a million things about Jisung that Jisung wasn’t even aware of.

“By accident?” Minho asked.

“Yeah,” Seungmin agreed. “Something he does by accident. Like…. When Hyunjinnie anchors himself on my waist he ripples the pressure on his suckers. It feels kind of horrible to be honest. Can you think of something Sungie does by accident? Maybe, when his core magic gets out of control?”

“Sungie’s magic is nice, like getting kisses on the inside,” Minho said proudly as if it had been a competition between Jisung and Hyunjin and Jisung had won.

“Sungie, did you-”

“Nope,” Jisung cut Seungmin off, not needing the sentence to be repeated. His core magic was definitely burning bright now from the embarrassing revelation. He knew his magic was emotion based but could it _not_ broadcast his emotions every time it was used. Still, even if embarrassment wasn't the emotion he was looking for, that was the kind of secret he needed.

He had tried to draw the path from his soul to Minho’s but now his core magic was starting to overflow he realised that map wasn’t right at all. It had been easy to cross to Minho last time because he was following the flow of magic but now there was nothing to connect them.

“Sungie, are you ok?” Minho asked worriedly, kneeling up on the table to see Jisung’s face better. “Do you need to make my blood go?” He reached out a hand and caught two of Jisung’s finger in his fist. His magic wanted to go to Minho but he would only hurt Minho if he burned this much magic through Minho’s blood. 

“It’s ok, Min,” Jisung said, pulling his hand away and breaking their connection. “Can you lie down for me, baby? I don’t want you to fall.” Minho did as he was told with a frown etching his forehead. Even when he was lying down he still bent his head up to watch Jisung. His concern made the magic in Jisung’s chest rise until it was barely contained within his body. “Head back, Min.” Jisung said, knowing his eyes would be lit bright blue by now. “I’m fine.”

Jisung pulled his magic tight into his soul, packing the energy tighter and tighter until it found the escape. Minho. As soon as the first tendril of magic found the channel to Minho’s soul it was all flooding that direction, like a river bursting its banks. Jisung urged it onwards, attaching a spell as quickly as he could before it could cause havoc in Minho’s body.

“It’s cozy again.” Minho hummed happily. He rubbed his chest and then shivered. “Sungie, tickles.”

“Sorry Min,” Jisung said, closing his eyes to control the next surge of magic. “It’s going to be a lot. Just stay still for me.”

Jisung couldn’t see if he did but he heard Seungmin’s chair scraped on the floor as he stood up. Hopefully he would have the sense move away and not to touch Minho right now or Jisung’s magic could fuck them both up.

He imagined the Minho he missed. His strong hugs, his high-pitched laugh, his quiet elegance from decades of dance, his hand fitting perfectly with his. _Build,_ he told Minho’s soul. _You remember this, build it._ Jisung couldn’t be sure that it was working as he wanted it to but Minho’s soul was greedily using up Jisung’s magic as soon as he gave it. He could feel it being dispersed through Minho’s body which was good. If it was following the same route as the de-aging magic had been he must surely be doing the right thing.

Still, Minho’s soul wanted more. There was no definite end to this spell, the same as the last one, but Jisung could sense his magic running low. Surely that had been longer than the first spell already? Why wasn’t Seungmin telling him to stop? Was it not working- was that why? Somehow it felt like Minho’s soul was taking more magic now than it had been when he started. There was almost none left to give.

 _Like kisses on the inside,_ he thought. This wasn’t like that. This was a pyroclastic flow of magma burning through him. It had to hurt even if Minho said it didn’t. He wanted to stop. He was tired and he wanted to stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes its another cliffhanger but you'll get the next bit reaaaaally soon


	41. We need more juice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you're all pretty eager to know whats happening so

“ _STOP! Stay in your body!”_ Was that Seungmin’s voice? What a weird thing to say. “ _Stop!”_ Seungmin said again. The pull towards Minho’s soul lessened ever so slightly and Jisung realised his own body was shaking. “Jisung, stop!” 

_Oh,_ Seungmin was talking to him. Shit. It was easier to end the spell this time as the flow of magic was so weak. With one massive effort he pulled back into his own soul and shut the connection. _You’re staying right here,_ he told his magic deliriously before finding consciousness again.

Seungmin was physically holding him up and nearly dropped them both to the floor when Jisung opened his eyes.

“Thank Terra,” he breathed, as Jisung found a chair and collapsed into it. “Never fucking do that again.”

“Minho?” Jisung said. There was a pained groan from the table behind Seungmin. 

“My head hurts.” That was a deeper voice. Had he done it?

“Hyung?” Jisung asked hopefully, pushing feebily at Seungmin for him to move. Minho groaned again and there was movement before the distinct sound of someone throwing up. “Hyung?” Jisung asked more desperately. 

“I’m fine, Sung,” Minho said and coughed. Jisung still couldn’t see him because Seungmin was leaning over Minho, offering him the energy drink. Minho gasped as he drank and Jisung tried desperately to work out from pitch alone if he had aged Minho correctly. He definitely wasn’t a kid anymore but was he back to his natural age? Was he older? Younger?

“Stay where you are, Sung,” Seungmin said firmly, looking at him over his shoulder. “You’ll fall if you try to get up.” Jisung whined. Seungmin frowned before turning his head towards the stairs. “CHANNIE-HYUNG! WE NEED MORE JUICE!”

Chan was in Jisung’s face in seconds. “Drink.”

“Minho,” Jisung protested as the juice was brought to his lips.

“Drink,” Chan said again and Jisung had no choice but to comply. Half way through the can he realised how much he needed it and took the can from Chan to gulp the rest of it. Only when it was finished did he notice he had Jeongin, Changbin and Felix gathered around him too.

“Minho,” Jisung said as soon as he had swallowed the last of the sugary liquid.

“Good job, Sungie.” 

Seungmin finally moved and there was Minho sitting with his legs hanging over the edge of the table. Jisung’s t-shirt was tight across his chest and the sweatpants were low on his hips, one foot still not fully pushed through the leg hole. His skin was horribly ashy and there was a good chance that Woojin’s arm around him was there for more than just comfort but he was alive and smiling faintly at Jisung.

“How old are you?” Jisung asked. Minho smirked.

“One hundred-”

“And a lot,” everyone chorused. Minho gave Hyunjin, the loudest contributor, the side eye.

“One hundred and _eighty-seven_ ,” he said pointedly. “Same as I’ve been all week.”

“Did I do it right?” Jisung had to know. “Why were you sick? Are you really ok?”

“Looks right to me,” Minho said, holding out his arms. They were a little thinner than Jisung remembered and that weird dull brown colour the Fae got when they were cold or in shock.

“Both of you need to go lie down before you pass out,” Woojin interrupted them. “You can catch up when you’re rested.”

“But-” Jisung protested. He was swept into Chan’s arms and he knew he had no chance of fighting it but he tried anyway.

“I will knock you out,” Chan threatened, bouncing Jisung as he carried him back to his bedroom through the back. “Stop wriggling, you’re going the same place.”

“Huh?” Jisung asked. He was gently lowered to Chan’s bed and Chan fluffled the pillow behind him. All his limbs felt like noodles and he let Chan tuck him in in a half-sitting position. Woojin came in behind Chan carrying Minho who looked less than happy to be being babied. The second he was put down he rolled onto his front and buried his face in the nearest pillow.

“Don’t suffocate now, Minho,” Chan said jokely. “It would put all Jisungie’s hard work to waste.”

“My head hurts,” Minho said again. “Can I get painkillers?”

“I can probably help,” Jisung said and managed to convince his arm to come off of the bed and move towards Minho. Chan caught his wrist before he was even halfway.

“Don’t you dare,” he said, folding Jisung’s hand back into the duvet. “Absolutely no magic.”

“But-”

“I’m fine, Sungie,” Minho said, turning onto his side to squint up at Jisung. “Nothing regular medicine can’t fix.”

“You don’t look fine,” Jisung said and he could hear his own pout but he didn’t care. 

“Neither do you, Minho scoffed. He reached out a hand and trailed a finger along the back of Jisung’s arm. “You’re still shaking.”

“You both nearly died, congratulations,” Chan said, standing with his feet planted wide and his arms crossed. Woojin next to him had his arm around Chan’s shoulder. _Power couple,_ Jisung thought weakly. His Dads looked like they could take down the world. They probably could considering they could take down him and the other idiots they’d adopted.

***

Hyunjin rapped his knuckles on the door, holding a packet of pills and three bottles of sports drink awkwardly in one hand. Good, Jisung liked the fake orange taste of that one better.

“You scared the shit out of Minnie,” Hyunjin reported, catching Jisung’s gaze. He cracked the seal on the lid of one of the drinks and handed it over before touching Minho lightly on the shoulder. “Can you sit up, Hyung. I have drugs.”

“My favourite words,” Minho mumbled and Hyunjin scrambled to free his hands so he could help Minho to sit up. He popped two of the pills out onto Minho’s palm and opened another bottle for him.

“What happened?” Jisung asked Hyunjin without taking the bottle fully out of his mouth. Hyunjin had taken a step back to monitor Minho taking his pills. 

Hyunjin shrugged. “Dunno, Minnie’s just shaken up. It must be pretty freaky to watch.”

“He should try living it,” Minho grumbled. He grimaced as he swallowed the pills and sunk back down to curl up under the duvet, his arm over his eyes. Hyunjin looked at him worriedly but left the room again after pulling the duvet over Minho’s shoulder.

“You’d be better sitting up, Min,” Chan suggested. “And getting a blood transfusion, but we can’t do that so you’ll just have to keep drinking.”

“I’ll spew,” Minho grumbled quietly. “Just let me lie still.” Minho never admitted when he was in pain and this behaviour was really starting to worry Jisung. His shakes had stopped and so very carefully he inched his hand under the blanket towards Minho. He could go through their...soulbond? He didn’t know if there was a word for it but there was certainly a connection between him and Minho and it was getting clearer every time he used it. He could use that now but it would be easier to only use a small amount of magic if he could just get skin contact.

“Jisung,” Minho growled warningly the second he sent out a tendril of magic.

“Shh,” Jisung replied. “It’s fine.”

“Han Jisung, are you doing magic?” Chan said, threateningly.

“ _No,”_ Jisung said pointedly. “I am _exploring_ with magic. I’m not using any of it.”

“Just keep it in your own body!” Chan said exasperatedly. “Minho has had quite enough.” Jisung ignored him and sped up his search. There wasn’t a lot he could do for Minho’s body but brains were his speciality. He could cure a headache. Minho sighed in relief as Jisung took the pain away. It took more of his magic than he’d really planned so he had to leave it at that but he kept his hand on Minho’s arm just in case.

“Thanks, Sung,” Minho mumbled and took his arm away from his eyes to offer a weak smile.

“Did you use magic?” Chan asked crossly. Woojin steered his boyfriend towards the door.

“How about you go and try to rescue dinner before it turns into soup and I’ll look after them,” he suggested. Chan didn’t really get an option as he was pushed from the room. Jisung could hear him complaining about it as he went down the corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter in like 10 hours?


	42. I was a fucking delight to be around

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> theres more

“I’m really glad you’re not five anymore,” Jisung said quietly, running his thumb back and forth along Minho’s arm. Minho’s eyes had closed again but his face was free from the tension his headache had been causing.

“I wasn’t five,” Minho replied without opening his eyes. “And I was a fucking delight to be around.”

“Language,” Woojin said, taking a seat at the foot of the bed to watch them.

“I was though, right Hyung?” Minho asked. “You had fun.”

“You woke me up at five am and bit Hyunjinnie so hard it might scar.”

“He deserved it!”

“For what?” Woojin asked. “He was asleep!” Minho frowned.

“I dunno. But he did deserve it.”

“Don’t bite him again,” Woojin instructed Minho tiredly.

“No promises,” Minho said and grinned at Jisung out of Woojin’s sight. Jisung couldn’t help but smile back.

“Sorry I stole all your magic and didn’t tell you,” Minho said after a moment of peaceful silence.

“Sorry I nearly erased you from existence,” Jisung shot back. He took Minho’s hand which was cold, like Chan’s hands were. That was not a comforting comparison. “You’re not dying now though, right? I know I fucked up but you’re not dying, right?”

“You didn’t fuck up,” Minho said firmly. “Having your whole body change massively is just not the easiest thing in the world to cope with. Ask Hyung.” Jisung looked at Woojin. He knew shifts tired him out but he never looked as bad as Minho did right now. Woojin nodded in agreement with Minho.

“I screamed, threw up and passed out the first time I shifted,” Woojin said. “And my body is supposed to be able to shift. Minho’s body isn’t supposed to do that and also think about how much more of Minho you had to create with just the energy from your magic and Minho’s existing cells alone. Sure, he’s a bit low on some of the non-essentials like blood and muscle but you did a pretty amazing job to do everything else.”

“Blood is pretty essential,” Jisung said, narrowing his eyes at Woojin. Woojin shrugged. 

“ _Some_ blood is essential. All of it? -not so much.”

“You’ve been dating Channie-hyung too long,” Jisung told him.

“Not long enough,” Woojin quipped back.

“Ew,” Jisung said, using disgust as an excuse to lie down and curl closer to Minho. Minho blew in his face so Jisung bonked his head with his juice bottle. Unfortunately, Minho also had a juice bottle and a violent streak to make use of it. Too quickly Woojin’s hand loomed over them and took their weapons away.

“If you’ve got enough energy to hit each other you must have had enough to drink.”

“Can I nap?” Jisung asked. Minho also looked like he could do with a nice healing bout of unconsciousness.

“After dinner,” Woojin said. “It’ll be ready any minute.”

“I’m not eating dinner,” Minho said firmly.

***

Minho was convinced to eat a few mouthfuls of dinner by eight very concerned family members pouting at him. However, approximately six minutes later he threw it up again. Right in the middle of the dining room. 

“Can I go lie down now?” he asked weakly after wiping his mouth and let Woojin guide him to his room.

“Is Hyung ok?” Felix asked in a whisper.

“He’s going to be fine,” Chan said confidently. “He’s probably just nauseous from growing a digestive tract.”

“Now _I’m_ nauseous,” Hyunjin said, pushing away his plate.

“Eat,” Seungmin said, pushing Hyunjin’s plate back towards him. “Talk of anatomical peculiarities has nothing to do with your dislike of vegetables.”

“Anamical puclerities,” Felix echoed inaccurately and made a sheepish face as he looked around the table for a translation.

“Not even close,” Changbin said fondly. “Anatomical.”

“Anamot-,” Felix broke off and rolled his eyes back into his head momentarily as his short-term memory failed him before he huffed out a breath of air and gave up.

“Strange body parts,” Changbin told him. “Seungminnie is using big words for no reason.”

“ _I_ want to use big words,” Felix said petulantly. “Like ‘equivocation’.” He smiled proudly and, across from Jisung, Jeongin looked vaguely alarmed. Jisung had had to look up the word so he doubted that Jeongin knew what it meant but the threat of a second Seungmin manifesting would scare anyone. 

“Who taught him that?” Chan asked. Of course, Jisung was the primary suspect. Technically this one wasn’t his fault. Minho had taught Felix ‘equivocation’- Jisung had just been an accomplice for translation.

“I’m going to nap,” Jisung said quickly before he came under fire, pushing back from the table. He’d eaten enough so Chan had no choice to let him go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there _should_ now be a break in uploads until wednesday night cos im exam starts tomorrow 14.30 BST for 24 hours but there might be another upload because stats is mind numbingly boring and minsung are cute


	43. I'll lie really still

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am technically still sitting my exam so i cant say anything about it but i wrote this before i started so have some minsung

“What are you doing here?” Minho grumbled as Jisung sidled into his room. Jisung left the main light off since the room was still faintly lit from outside and he lifted the corner of Minho’s duvet to slip in beside him. “Get out,” Minho told him but put his arm around Jisung’s waist anyway.

“Ah, back to the tsundere, I see,” Jisung noted. Minho’s dismissal didn’t hurt as much as it would have before. “You know, earlier today I had to guilt trip Felix into distracting you to get half an hour of peace.”

“You could have just said you didn’t want to hang out,” Minho grumbled, avoiding Jisung’s gaze.

“Yeah, like that would have gone well,” Jisung scoffed. “Yesterday you cried because you thought I didn’t like you and you didn’t believe that I did until I agreed to marry you.” Jisung conveniently left out the part when he confessed to being in love with Minho. Ohh, that sounded serious, even in his head. In _like_ with Minho. He was in _like_ with Minho. He liked Minho. _Shit,_ he liked Minho.

“You ok, Sungie?” Minho asked quietly. _Shit._ He really had to get his face journeys under control. “You know you don’t actually have to marry me?” he joked. “I didn’t even get around to proposing.”

Jisung pouted exaggeratedly. “You said you were going to get me a gold ring though.” Why was he torturing himself like this? Minho had just given him an out and like a masochist he had completely ignored it.

“You’ve got plenty already,” Minho said, grabbing Jiusng’s wrist and shaking his hand between their faces. Jisung _did_ have a lot of rings already but he had liked the idea of Minho commissioning one especially for him instead of just stealing whatever rejects or prototypes Changbin left lying about.

“I always want more free rings,” Jisung mumbled, closing his eyes to avoid digging himself a deeper hole to die in.

“Are you really sleeping here?” Minho asked, poking him in the cheek. Sleep did sound nice actually. He’d forgotten that was the original intention. “Ya, this is my bed.”

“It fits two people,” Jisung argued. It fit three actually but you had to have absolutely no personal boundaries for that to work and Jisung wasn’t sure Minho would be comfortable with that level of intimacy right now. “I’ll lie really still, I won’t bother you.” The thought of leaving to go sleep in his own room made him feel a little anxious even though it was just through the wall. Woojin had said Minho was fine but was he _really_ fine? Minho was really good at hiding pain.

“Take off your jeans if you’re going to sleep,” Minho said, giving it. “You won’t wake up until morning and your feet will fall off if you trap them at the end of skinny jeans all night.”

Jisung groaned but stood up to take them off. Then he considered the likelihood of him actually sleeping until morning (very high) and decided to brush his teeth and find real pjs while he was up.

***

“Ah. You’re back.” Minho said tonelessly, not looking up from his phone. He had also changed though and was no longer wearing Jisung’s t-shirt. He was wearing another t-shirt however which exposed his expectation for Jisung to return as if he was sleeping alone he would have stripped to his boxers.

“What you doing?” Jisung asked as he got comfortable.

“Cats of twitter,” Minho muttered, turning his phone to show him a picture much too bright to focus on.

“You didn’t change at all,” Jisung scoffed. “Are you sleeping soon or scrolling some more?”

“Scrolling,” Minho said without looking up. He sat up slightly and pushed a pillow across to Jisung. “Sleep. You need it.”

“So do you,” Jisung protested but he hit the pillow a few times until it was comfortable and lay down properly. He had intended to watch Minho for signs his spell had gone wrong but his eyes shut of their own accord. 

“I’m fine,” Minho said. “Just don’t want to eat right now.” 

Jisung could almost believe that but just to be sure he knocked his foot into Minho’s leg under the guise of getting comfortable and sent out some magic to check. Minho noticed immediately and tried to move Jisung’s foot away. Unfortunately for him he used his leg to do that and the prolonged contact was more than enough for Jisung to clamp down on the limb with magic, preventing him from moving away again.

“Jisung, let me go,” Minho said, dropping his phone on top of the duvet to focus his attention on the witch. Jisung kept his eyes shut.

“‘M not doin’ ‘nthing,” he mumbled as if he was half-asleep.

“You’re wasting your magic,” Minho said, tugging his leg harder. “Do you want to die?”

“I want to check you’re really ok,” Jisung replied. He’d forgotten to sound sleepy. So much for that.

“I am,” Minho said. “I’m really ok. I promise.”

“Can I check anyway?”

“Jisung-” Minho sighed. “Exploring only,” he said, caving. 

“Exploring only,” Jisung agreed and he reached out his hand to touch Minho on the arm and send magic that way. Minho shivered involuntarily before Jisung’s magic had even reached his elbow and Jisung paused to let him get used to it again. “Kisses on the inside?” Jisung joked.

“Did I actually tell you that?” Minho asked, almost sounding embarrassed. "Terra, why couldn't I just shut up?"

"We'd made a deal," Jisung said and then remembered he'd brought up liking Minho _again_ and tried quickly to change topic. "What do 'kisses on the inside' even feel like?" Great topic change that was, Jisung. He widened his magical search of Minho's body, hitching a ride in his blood which was currently moving a lot slower than he was used to. Maybe if he found something wrong with Minho's body he could expel all his magic fixing it and die a nice quick death instead of the agonising torture that was the embarrassment of his life.

Minho hummed happily as Jisung skipped through his heart. He always liked that bit. Thankfully, Minho's heart seemed to be working just as it had before Jisung started messing with his age. 

"You know the kind of nice burn you get when you kiss someone you like?" Minho tried to explain. However, there was a flaw in his plan- Jisung was a homeschooled introvert.

“Can't say I do," Jisung replied breezily. Minho's legs were also fine, including his ankles (extra points for that) and so were his kidneys. He avoided his stomach and everything attached to it since his magic would probably only worsen the nausea but the rest of Minho was almost exactly as he remembered it.

"You haven't-?" Minho asked awkwardly.

"Not yet," Jisung tried to sound nonchalant as he ended his survey of Minho's body.

"Oh. Uh, well-" Minho's fumbling was cut off by a hurried knock before Seungmin stepped into the room. "I didn't say you could come in," Minho told the imp reproachfully.

"Sorry, I just- Jisung wasn't in his room and I.. panicked." Seungmin screwed up his eyes, expecting a reprimand.

"He's fine," Minho said, softening immediately. "I'm fine. We're both fine, Minnie."

"Yeah," Seungmin pushed his fringe off of his forehead and sighed deeply. "I know. Sorry." 

"I just checked Hyung," Jisung offered. "He's all ok."

"You used your magic?" Seungmin asked, keyed up again.

"It's fine," Jisung assured him. "I used it but I didn't spend it, if you know what I mean. I was just using it to feel."

"You shouldn't-" Seungmin cut himself off but looked conflicted. "You shouldn't use any more today. You must be nearly completely empty." He was.

"It's ok, I don't need magic," Jisung assured him. "And I'm not running a continuous spell this time, I double checked."

"Please," Seungmin said.

"No more magic use," Jisung promised, holding up his hands. "I'll go to sleep right now."

"And you, Hyungie," Seungmin said. "You need to sleep." Minho reached over Jisung's head and set his phone on the bedside table.

"There. Ready to sleep."

Seungmin nodded to himself. "Do you want me to close your blinds?" Minho gave a thumbs up and let Seungmin quietly fuss over them for another minute as he traced patterns on Jisung's shoulder with his nail to keep Jisung awake. His method was quickly losing effectiveness as the reminder that Minho was alive was really all Jisung needed to relax. Jisung was asleep before Seungmin even left the room.


	44. Challenge yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you thought you were getting cute minsung you were wrong...

Jisung woke up in fear. It was still dark and someone was looming over him, shaking him by the shoulders.

"Wha-?" he managed to say, trying to get the hands off of him.

"I'm sorry!" Seungmin cried, letting Jisung go as soon as he fought back. Jisung felt Minho wake up too beside him and prop himself up on his elbows.

"What the fuck, Seungmin," Jisung grumbled. "There better be a fire."

"I'm sorry," Seungmin said again, twisting his hands together. "My dream was just so real and I-"

"It's ok, Minnie," Minho hushed him. He was surprisingly gentle for a Minho that had just woken up and beckoned Seungmin to climb over Jisung. Seungmin basically dived for Minho and Minho pulled Seungmin on top of him, patting his hair and whispering consoling words to him. Jisung knew the bed fit three people but he didn't want to prove the point at 3am.

"Sorry I'm being so stupid," Seungmin mumbled.

"You're not being stupid," Minho assured him. "Never.” This was the Minho-hyung Jisung had missed so terribly when everything had been going wrong and he had to remind himself that Minho was a Hyung to more than just him. Seungmin deserved Minho’s comfort as much as he did. It still stung though that Minho hugged Seungmin so easily and yet had only grudgingly allowed Jisung to share his bed to stop him from worrying.

“I'm guessing we got a lot closer to dying earlier than we were aware of?" Minho asked gently.

Jisung had forgotten that Seungmin’s eyes had been open during the spell. He might not have felt what Jisung and Minho had gone through but perhaps he was more aware of what had really transpired than either of them. That memory would be a heavier burden than Jisung’s faint impressions of the experience. Seungmin didn't say anything but he clung to Minho a little tighter and stared at Jisung through the dark with big scared eyes.

"Thank you, Minnie," Jisung said, reaching out to grab his hand. Seungmin squeezed his hand back tightly. "I heard you telling me to stop."

Seungmin shook his head. "You didn't. I told you so many times and you keep going. I had to tell your magic to stop in Fae before you heard me."

" _Stay in your body,"_ Jisung remembered faintly. So Seungmin hadn't been speaking to him after all.

"I said it so many times," Seungmin whispered. "I didn't think it was going to work."

"Thank you, Seungminnie." Jisung said again, putting as much weight behind the words as possible.

"Thank you," Minho echoed him, hugging Seungmin tighter. "I owe you two life debts."

"No!" Seungmin said, scrambling to sit up. Minho tried not to let him go but Jisung hadn't grown his skeletal muscles very well and Seungmin broke away easily. "No debts. You're family and I love you. You don't owe me anything."

"3RACHA policy," Jisung agreed. "Family discount is free."

"I love you too but I still owe a life debt," Minho said, tugging Seungmin back down into a hug. "Three actually, I think. One for me today, one for Jisung today and one for me the first time."

"I'm never cashing them in," Seungmin grumbled as he settled on Minho's chest again.

“I still owe you,” Minho said. Why did the fae feel the need to put a value on everything?

“Get off him, Minnie,” Jisung said, pulling Seungmin’s arm. “I did a shit job at building his muscles and he’ll collapse with your heavy ass on him all night.”

“No, I can leave-” Seungmin tried to get out of the bed but there was very little mattress space for him to push up on and Jisung kept a firm grip on his arm and his hand… They both went tumbling to the floor.

“Dad is going to kill us,” Seungmin whispered, freezing on top of Jisung as if that would cancel out the horrendously loud thud they had just made.

“Maybe he’s asleep,” Jisung offered. Who was he kidding, Chan had slept in that morning- there was no way he was asleep now.

“I was not involved,” Minho said from the bed, peering over to check on them. “You two can stay down there. This is my bed.”

“How is _that_ fair,” Jisung argued. “We’re both here just to make sure _you_ don’t clock out in the middle of the night. If anything you should be _thanking_ us.”

Chan cleared his throat from the doorway and Jisung would have jumped if he didn’t have Seungmin lying on him. Minho definitely did.

“Good morning, gentlemen,” Chan said with a tired smile. “I left cuddles for this so can we make it quick.”

“We’re all scared of death, but not our own,” Jisung said before Chan could get a fae-style answer that would only piss him off more.

“I can make you scared of your own death if that would make you sleep better,” Chan threatened.

“Umm, no thank you,” Jisung replied politely. He wrapped his legs around Seungmin so the boy couldn’t get off of him and leave him exposed. “I would rather be scared of no deaths.”

“Believe me, that’s not better,” Chan said, easily picking the both of them off of the floor in a tangle of limbs and dropping them back onto the bed. “If you’re scared it means you’ve got something to lose.”

“Ah, it’s 3am Depressing Dad,” Seungmin sighed, rolling off of Jisung to use Minho’s shoulder as a pillow. “Not seen him in a while.”

“Stop giving me alter egos,” Chan chastised him, straightening out the duvet over them.

“How many do you have?” Minho asked. Jisung watched him kick the corner of the duvet off his foot, no doubt just to annoy Chan.

“Too many,” Chan said, flipping the duvet back into place. “Are you all comfortable enough to sleep?” Jisung knew he didn’t just mean physically.

“I’m squished,” Seungmin complained.

“In a single bed with two other people?” Chan asked in mock surprise. “No way!”

Seungmin harrumphed. “You asked!”

“My mistake,” Chan said dryly. “Do you intend on going back to your own bed or did you just want to complain about it?”

“Just wanted to complain about it,” Seungmin grumbled. Jisung couldn’t really be mad at him for wanting to stay for the same reason he was also here but he would prefer not to be balanced precariously on the edge of the mattress. On the bright side, in this position he had the option to stick a leg out from under the duvet when it inevitably got too hot whereas Seungmin would just boil.

Chan left momentarily and returned with Jisung's duvet which he laid carefully beside the bed. “For when you fall out again,” he said, smiling at Jisung as he watched Chan smooth out the fold he’d put in it. He dropped a quick kiss to Jisung’s forehead before he stood up and Jisung wrinkled his nose at it.

“I don’t want to see any of you before 10am,” Chan told them as he went to leave.

“ _Ten?”_ Seungmin asked.

“For the love of trees, Seungmin. Have a lie in once in your life,” Jisung groused. “Challenge yourself.”

“How is lying in bed-”

“ _Boys,”_ Chan said exaspiredly. “Minho’s asleep. Please do the same.”

“But-!”

“No. Sleep.” Chan glared at them. “I better not hear you.” He shut the door with a firm click and Seungmin managed to hold his tongue for a whole five seconds.

“I’m not staying in here until 10am.”

“Good,” Jisung whispered back, deliberately bumping into Seungmin as he got comfortable. Not that there was a way _not_ to bump into Seungmin. “I can get my pillow back then.”

He had said it as a random complaint in the heat of the moment but Seungmin’s back tensed against his arm the second the words came out his mouth. That was all Jisung needed to remember that Seungmin wasn’t currently using a pillow and instead was resting his head on Minho. Seungmin wouldn’t just let something like that go if Jisung gave him an opening that good.

“You mean your _Minho-hyung?_ ” Jisung could hear his stupid grin. He hit Seungmin’s back as hard as he dared in the limited space.

“Go the fuck to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you got cute 2minsung instead haha!


	45. Blood sugar up, blood pressure down

Jisung woke up alone and therefore grumpy. He was curled up on Minho’s side of the bed in a little tropical cocoon of his own creation which meant that somehow Minho and Seungmin had gotten up and climbed over him to escape quite a while ago. And neither of them had left the AC on. Bastards.

His phone was dead since Minho had been charging his own overnight in the one charging port and so Jisung groggily got up in search of the time, cuddles and coffee. Nobody was in the living room or the dining room and the kitchen was also empty. The coffee machine was still warm but tragically there was none left for him. He found the time on the oven- 1136. That was one out of three quests completed but it only raised more questions. If it was only eleven thirty then why was nobody in the house?

Jisung stumbled down the stairs with more urgency than he cared to admit. At the bottom of the stairs he had a moment of indecision. Go left through the workshop or right past the Dads’ room? He went left only because Chan had been wide awake last night and so would likely still be up now. Changbin wasn’t in his workshop and Jisung was practically running by the time he burst through the curtain to the shop.

“Good morning, Sungshine,” Woojin greeted him warmly and Jisung barrelled into his chest. “What’s up with you?”

“Nobody was upstairs,” Jisung mumbled into Woojin’s t-shirt.

“Were you scared?” Woojin asked in surprise. When he said it like that in the bright comforting light of the shop it sounded dumb.

“ _No.”_ Jisung pushed back out of Woojin embrace. “I didn’t want to make my own coffee.”

“Ah,” Woojin said knowingly. He didn’t question further though. “Well I’m the only other person here so if you want your coffee to taste of slave labour you’ll have to mind the shop.”

“Where’s everyone else?” Jisung asked. Minho had been half-dead the last time Jisung had seen him, a whole eight hours ago, he certainly shouldn’t be going _anywhere_.

“The kids are out on dates since Channie lifted the ban and Channie was taking Minho to see Mina about changing the classes he takes since he’s not really strong enough to be doing his normal set right now.”

“They caught the rogue vamp?” Jisung asked. _When? Where? Who? How?_

“No,” Woojin admitted. “But it’s looking unlikely that they ever will and it’s just not reasonable to keep you all inside on the possibility that there is another attack.”

“And Channie-hyung just went along with the odds that we _probably_ won’t get eaten?”

“Well, you still have to be in groups for now and he gave Felix a stake as a precautionary measure,” Woojin told him.

“Hyung gave _Felix_ a stake?!” What kind of alternative universe had he woken up in?

“To protect himself,” Woojin explained, and mimed a stabbing motion.

Jisung couldn’t see any situation in which that would go well. Yes, Felix was a great fighter, but that largely consisted of kicking the shit out of people while he was airborne. Unless Felix was walking down the street with the stake readied between his toes there was no way he’d get the upper hand on a determined vampire. Those fuckers were _fast_ , Jisung could attest to that. Unfortunately he didn’t have the chance to voice any of these opinions to Woojin as a customer chose that moment to enter the shop. Jisung hid behind the cash counter so the customer wouldn’t judge him for his pyjamas and checked the state of his magic. Maybe this whole thing was a really vivid dream.

“He’d gone, Sung,” Woojin called out once they were alone again.

“Am I dreaming?” Jisung blurted out as he stuck his head above the counter.

“No?” Of course Dream Woojin would think there was nothing wrong with this- he was part of the dream. “I think you need coffee and breakfast. Can you hold fort for ten minutes while I go make it for you?”

“You’re not supposed to eat food in dreams,” Jisung said. Or was that peeing? Dream Woojin crossed the room and placed his hand on Jisung’s forehead.

“Are you feeling ok, Sungie? Have you got enough magic?” Jisung batted his hand away and snapped his fingers to produce his classic little blue flame.

“My magic is fine. _You_ aren’t.”

“Says the boy who keeps performing ground-breaking magical feats,” Woojin countered, unbothered by Jisung’s rudeness. “I’m going to go get your breakfast. Sit still and yell if there’s a customer.” Woojin pushed Jisung into a seat and disappeared through the curtain to the back. Jisung wouldn’t risk even Dream Woojin’s wrath if he left the shop unattended so he decided to sit tight and hope he woke up cuddled up with Minho before his coffee arrived.

The shop bell rang before Woojin returned and Jisung had opened his mouth to call for the werewolf before he recognised who it was.

“Tell me something only Channie-hyung would know!” Jisung demanded.

“What?” Chan laughed.

“Did you wake up on the wrong side of bed, Sungie?” Minho asked. He was looking a lot better, his colour back to normal and his eyes brighter. That was a point against this being a dream because Jisung would either dream Minho as the living sculpture of the perfect man (he was that already) or actively dying. This Minho’s condition was too mediocre for him to be a fragment of Jisung’s imagination.

“Everything is wrong,” Jisung said hesitantly. He wasn’t so sure anymore but there were still a lot of odd things going on. Chan had approached him and gently turned Jisung’s hand over. He traced a faint white scar on his wrist with his finger.

“You got this scar from a rose the day we met. It would have healed fine but you kept picking at the scab.” That was Chan alright. Jisung would never admit to himself, even when dreaming, that it was his fault it had scarred. But that meant that if Chan was Chan then Woojin was Woojin and Chan really lifted the ban.

“You gave Felix a stake!” he accused Chan.

“Yes.”

“ _You_ gave _Felix_ a _stake!_

“Yes.”

“ _You-”_

“Yes, I gave Felix a stake!” Chan said exasperatedly. “What about it?”

“That’s a terrible plan!”

“Well, _Changbin_ wasn’t going to defend him. I had to arm him somehow.”

“A stick won’t stop him being eaten!” Jisung exclaimed and got toast shoved into his mouth mid-way through the sentence.

“Blood sugar up, blood pressure down, please,” Woojin said, pressing a plate with another slice of toast and jam into Jisung’s hand and setting a mug of coffee on a coaster.

“Has he been up long?” Chan asked Woojin as if Jisung wasn’t right there. He also kissed Woojin as if Jisung wasn’t _right there._ Jisung chewed with more determination so he could free his tongue to speak again. Minho just shoved another bite into his mouth the second he managed to fill his cheeks.

“ _Hyung!”_ Jisung moaned in annoyance, except his mouth was full of bread so he actually said ‘Huuuwg’.

“Not long,” Woojin told Chan. “He thinks he’s still dreaming.”

Jisung did his best to explain that he now accepted that this was just his regular weird life by aggressively gesturing to Minho’s face but his hyungs didn’t understand.

“I know, my face _is_ too pretty to be real,” Minho sighed dramatically and fed Jisung yet more unwanted toast when Jisung tried to yell at him for being so egotistical. Jisung lit his fist with magically fire and held it up as threateningly as he could. Minho just unfolded his fist and interlaced the fingers. Jisung was so baffled that the flames died.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've seen a lot of people are missing email notifications rn so if you want you can follow my twitter @Lossit_bay_skz and I tweet when I chapter has just gone out. I'm sure AO3 will fix the emails soon, they'll just have a lot more traffic rn. I've certainly got like 5 tabs open.


	46. Not telling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been a while bc of some personal shit but here is something I think a lot of you have been waiting for.
> 
> I hope everyone is ok. I know that might not be possible for all of you, mentally or physically, but I do really hope you are ok and as safe as you can be. Do what you can in your own situation and I hope to god it gets better

“Minho, leave Jisung alone before he chokes,” Chan ordered. “Jisung, focus on eating.” That’s what Jisung had been _trying_ to do. It wasn’t _his_ fault he was now holding hands with Minho and Minho wouldn’t let go. “The pair of you need to find a nice relaxing activity for today,” Chan continued. “Watch a film or something.”

“Well, I grew yesterday in more ways than one,” Minho said. “And there’s a relaxing activity I’ve not performed in a while.” He made a rude gesture with his free hand and Jisung actually choked. 

He managed to recover quickly and thought he had everything under control until Woojin replied with “That is a solo activity, I hope.”

“Unless you would like to assist me, Hyungie?” Minho said, grinned greasily. 

“Do you require assistance?” Woojin asked mildly. He looked up from the pile of receipts he was sorting and raised an eyebrow at Minho. 

Jisung was going to die. He’d taken his last breath and half of it had been bread. What a way to go. At least he would die with a good view- Minho, with hair tousled from the wind and a light blush high on his cheeks as he smiled brightly. The light was hitting Minho’s face perfectly but then again Minho looked perfect in light from every angle. 

Chan hit Jisung firmly between the shoulder blades and dislodged the toast. “Breathe,” he ordered and Jisung did, this time filling his lungs with sweet air. He’d missed the next part of Minho and Woojin’s conversation and it seemed to be over. Minho was now blushing fiercely and Woojin had returned his focus to the receipts with a smug grin on his face. Jisung tried not to think too hard about what he could infer from that.

“I think you should finish your breakfast upstairs, Jisung,” Chan suggested. And miss all the drama? Actually.. missing drama would probably be quite good for his health.

“Fine,” Jisung agreed, wiping jam from his cheek with the back of his hand and then licking it ‘clean’. His hand and cheek remained faintly sticky. He’d eaten one and a half slices of toast already thanks to Minho but he could chew the last half slice upstairs. And then raid the fridge for something more interesting. 

“I’ll carry your coffee,” Minho offered quickly. The mug was still full since _someone_ hadn’t given him a second to drink it. 

“I can carry it myself,” Jisung protested but Minho had already taken it and was heading for the stairs. If Jisung wanted coffee he’d have to follow. Chan nudged him after Minho.

“Go on. Maybe change out of your pyjamas while you’re up there.”

“I’ll change into _different_ pyjamas,” Jisung replied.

“Fine by me,” Chan said. “I’d be happy if you did nothing today.”

“Well now I don’t want to,” Jisung grumbled as he shuffled after Minho.

***

Jisung had elected to put real clothes on because he was Mature (and also because Chan didn’t want him to). However, Jisung was still lazy so he had put on sweatpants and an oversized T and crawled back into bed. He could plan something crazy from comfort should the notion come to him. Until then he had youtube’s algorithm and his wild watch history feeding it to entertain him. Maybe those videos in russian would appear again.

“What do you want to do today?” Minho asked, coming into Jisung’s room uninvited. 

“Break the Curse,” Jisung replied without missing a beat.

“No you don’t,” Minho said confidently. “You're scared of using your magic.”

“That’s my secret, Minho.” Jisung said in a hushed tone. “I’m _always_ scared of my magic.

Minho narrowed his eyes at him. “You have to call me Hyung.” He’d missed a perfect Avengers reference. Unbelievable. Still, Jisung humoured him.

“Why?” He challenged Minho. “You’ve not gotten any older and you let me call you Minho yesterday.”

“Yesterday it didn’t hurt when I punched you,” Minho pointed out with a raised fist. 

“Good point, well made,” Jisung said hurriedly, dropping his phone to the mattress and holding up his hands. “Minho-hyung it is.”

“Thought so.” Minho smirked down at him. 

“I should have taken advantage of you being small while I had a chance,” Jisung said as Minho sat on him.

“You wouldn’t have,” Minho said, leaning back to crush more of Jisung. It wasn’t really that bad because Minho was too skinny to weigh very much but he was still a bother. “I was even more adorable then than I am now and you have a weakness for me.”

Ok, that was rude. “If you knew I had a crush on you,” Jisung said, giving Minho a shove, “then why did you accept it as a secret?” 

Minho rolled off of him easily. “I had only guessed,” he said quietly. His face was very close suddenly and Jisung had nowhere to go. “I wasn’t going to confront you on it and I’m sorry I got so carried away with it when I was a kid. That wasn’t fair.”

“It’s fine,” Jisung lied. “I was the one who brought it up anyway.” He turned on his side, facing away from Minho. He just felt like a stupid child now. “I’ll get over you, you can go back to ignoring me or whatever.”

“No.” Minho put his hand firmly on Jisung’s shoulder. “Don’t.” Don’t what? Get over him? Jisung rolled back to face him and Minho got flustered as their breathes mixed again and pulled away. “I mean, you can do whatever you want but-” Jisung actually saw him bite down on his tongue.

“But what?” he asked, propping himself up on one elbow. “But _what_ , Minho-hyung?”

Minho’s mouth tightened and he threw his head back in frustration. “I’m not telling you.”

“This is the secret Seungmin knows!” Jisung gasped. He poked Minho in the side. “You have to tell me now!”

“I don’t,” Minho said, batting away Jisung’s hand. “Forget about it.”

“No! _Seungmin_ knows about it, why can’t I know?” If it was a secret about _him_ he deserved to know.

“When you’re twenty,” Minho attempted to placate him. “I’ll tell you when you’re twenty.”

“Fuck that!” Jisung kept poking Minho in all the places he knew would make him squirm. He even sat up to use both hands. “Time is a social construct. Age is just a number.”

“It’s a very important number,” Minho gritted out, pulling up his knees to defend himself.

“What? Twenty?” Jisung asked in confusion. Was it a fae thing like Changbin’s obsession with six?

“Terra, why this idiot out of all the idiots?” Minho muttered. He seemed to get some sort of enlightenment from the god because his strategy changed suddenly and he started attacking, getting Jisung pinned in seconds. “I like you too, you _idiot.”_ Minho said irritatedly. “ _That’s_ the secret that really isn’t a secret at all. I wasn’t going to tell you because you’re _nineteen._ " Minho relaxed his grip and sat back with a sigh. "I’m not going to date you when you’re nineteen, Sungie. You should date someone your own age first and then when you’re older if you still want to, we can try dating then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come at me with the comments then


	47. Got it under control

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... how did Jisung take that revelation?

Jisung’s blood was rushing in his ears but he was pretty sure he’d just heard Minho tell him he liked him back. And then before the elation had even hit Minho ripped it away. He didn’t want to date Jisung. Who would?

“Jisung?” Minho called him urgently. “Shit, I shouldn’t have said that without warning.” He manhandled Jisung up into a sitting position and Jisung couldn’t work out why until he placed Jisung’s palm on his own wrist. “Channel your magic into me,” Minho said.

Jisung shook him off. “I’ve got it under control.”

“Your eyes are blue,” Minho pressed. “Let me help you.”

“I’ve _got it under control.”_ Jisung said again, getting angry on top of everything else he was already feeling. “And if I want to stop your heart I don’t have to touch you to do it.”

It was easy to do. A little push and he was through their soulbond and then it was the usual routine. Spread through Minho’s blood to get control, stop his heart, and move the blood with magic instead. Matching the flow rate was the hardest part but he’d done it so many times by this point that he barely had to think about it. Jisung waited until Minho’s face betrayed that he had felt the change before pulling out of his body again, gently enough not to cause Minho anything more than mild discomfort. Since his magic had already been so drained, the emotional onslaught hadn’t been as overwhelming as it would have been otherwise and his stint in Minho’s circulatory system took the edge off just enough.

 _“See?_ ” Jisung said sassily. “Not bad for a kid, huh?”

“Jisung,” Minho sighed. “That’s not-”

“That’s it though, isn’t it?” Jisung cut off his weak excuses. “I’m just some little kid. ‘Come back to you once I’m less of a burden to deal with’?”

“You are _not_ a burden, Han Jisung,” Minho said sternly. “What I was _trying_ to say was that I’ve been an adult for a long time. Even though I mess around a lot here I’ve experienced a lot more of the world than you have and I think you should have the chance to discover who you are first before you settle on me just because I’m closest. There’s a world of opportunities out there, Jisungie. Who knows where you’ll be in five years.”

“I’ll be right here!” Jisung protested. “Why would I leave 3RACHA?”

Minho shrugged. “I didn’t discover hip hop until I left home. I was about one hundred and twenty. Maybe you’ll find something you love and cross the world to do it.”

“I love working at 3RACHA,” Jisung said determinedly. “I love living in Seoul. I love spending time with _you.”_

Minho smiled faintly. “I love spending time with you too, Sungie. Hopefully, that doesn’t have to change.”

“ _You’re_ the one that started avoiding me,” Jisung accused him, pulling his knees up between him and Minho. He had thought he had been paranoid before but now there was a good chance that Minho really had been avoiding him.

“I was trying to stop the Feelings,” Minho said the word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “Mine, and yours.” At least Minho seemed to be as embarrassed about this as he was.

“That worked well,” Jisung commented sarcastically.

“It was actually going very well until you turned me into a five-year-old,” Minho retorted.

“It was _an accident,”_ Jisung reminded him. “And you knew my success rate with magic going into that spell.”

“I did,” Minho agreed, mellowing the mood with his soft tone. He stretched his arms above his head and yawned. “Do you really want to try that again?”

Jisung thought about it. Giving up wasn’t how he operated and he did have a better idea of how to break the curse now. “I’m game if you are,” he said, offering Minho his hand to shake.

Minho took his hand and tugged, tipping Jisung over before he used his feet to turn the younger boy around. Jisung ended up in Minho’s arms and Minho smirked proudly when Jisung pushed back his fringe to glare at him.

“You were supposed to shake my hand,” Jisung said, doing his best to stay annoyed.

“You love it,” Minho replied with no remorse and poked Jisung’s cheek until his frown cracked. Jisung couldn’t really deny it now but he gave Minho a shock of magic in retaliation where their arms were touching. Minho pinched him once, twice, three four five- Jisung tried desperately to escape and when that didn’t work he closed his eyes and carefully set up a bubble. It had to keep out Minho without throwing him or any other object across the room so it took a bit of concentration but Jisung managed to set the barrier a centimetre above his skin.

“Hey!” Minho complained when his access was denied. “That’s not fair!”

“I can’t touch you either,” Jisung pointed out and demonstrated by slowly bringing his hand to Minho’s arm. Finger-shaped depressions appeared on Minho’s arm before they made contact. Jisnug pulled away again.

“You can still attack me the other way,” Minho complained.

“Through the soulbond?” Jisung asked. “I won’t go that way. It’s kind of all or nothing that way.”

“The soul...bond?” Minho asked hesitantly.

 _Whoops_. Jisung shouldn’t have called it that. Certainly not out loud. He dissolved the bubble since he couldn’t keep the concentration to maintain it up.

“It’s, um.. So I go through my soul into yours?” Jisung explained awkwardly. “When I deaged you I accidentally set the spell to run through our souls which is why I didn’t realise it was still running. And then when I reaged you I did it that way too. I don’t know if I can do it with anyone or just you.”

“Hmm.” Minho took the revelation very well. He clasped his hands around Jisung’s waist and tugged him back to rest against his chest as he thought. Jisung tipped his head back onto Minho’s shoulder and Minho gently knocked their heads together. It might actually have been a kiss but Jisung couldn’t see if the light pressure he felt on his hair had been Minho’s cheekbone or his lips. Either way, it was nice and Jisung was content to stay where he was while Minho thought.

“And the curse is in my soul?” Minho asked.

“I think so,” Jisung replied. “Seungminnie thinks so but I wasn’t really looking for it when I reaged you. It’s got a blood-seal or something on it though so I probably need Seungminnie to find it.”

“When you’ve got your magic back to explosion capacity you can try again,” Minho offered. “No dying on me, ok?”

“Ok,” Jisung agreed with a laugh. He twisted around to look Minho in the eyes. “You can’t die either.”

Minho scoffed. “I’m very difficult to kill.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this fic is really nearly done so im going to try to get it finished before my birthday on thursday. no promises though because im not entirely sure how im going to wrap this up.
> 
> Also I wont be posting notifications on twitter atm as so not to distract from the activism there but I should have a chapter up every evening/night until this fic is done


	48. This is Han Jisung

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is twice as long as the others and i didnt even get everything I wanted into itt but im determined to get this finish in one or two more chapters. However, bc it too so much longer to write its now 2am so theres definitely mistakes. I found I spelt 'forty' as 'fourty' and 'lives' as 'lifes' so god knows what else is still lurking that i missed

“Since you know about the soulbond now,” Jisung started excitedly, “you can help me plan!” He lunged forward and Minho’s grip tightened slightly, holding him back. 

“Right now?” Minho asked. “Sungie, don’t you think you should rest for a while?”

“Nope!” Jisung prised Minho’s hands apart and rolled smoothly off of the bed to standing. He surprised himself with his own athletic ability but he tried not to let the shock show on his face. He couldn’t let Minho second guess his preferences now by being even more of a walking disaster. “I’m going to go get my drawings.” Jisung announced enthusiastically. “Meet me at the dining room table!” Minho sighed as Jisung ran out the room but it sounded like he was following.

***

“Did Channie-hyung question you?” Minho asked knowingly as Jisung huffed to the top of the stairs, laden down with art supplies. Getting his sketchbook had taken longer than expected. 

Jisung dropped his supplies onto the table and a couple of pens slid out of the packet and rolled away across the table. One of them was the yellow one so he didn’t really care. He really only cared about having the blue one and that yellow was an ugly shade anyway.

“He did,” Jisung answered Minho, “but I told him I was drawing and he thought that was a great idea.”

“He’s going to be so mad when he works out what you’re doing.” Minho spread Jisung’s sketches out on the table and tried to work out which way was up. They were pretty abstract so he wouldn’t have much luck.

“What _we’re_ doing,” Jisung corrected him. “You’re my sous chef.”

“Oh, are we cooking?” Minho asked in interest. Now _that_ was a good idea.

***

Two cup ramens later they finally got started.

“Ok!” Jisung clapped his hands together. It felt good to be planning something fresh with his magic instead of playing catch up. “What do we know about your curse?”

“It’s in my soul, it’s little beads in my blood until it gets to my brain, it activates when someone speaks Fae,” Minho listed off tonelessly.

“No, not how it works.” Jisung interrupted him. “How it was _made.”_

Minho shrugged. “We could ask my grandparents.”

Now _that_ would be interesting. “Do they have phones?”

“One of my grandad’s refuses to answer my calls unless it’s a video call and my other grandpa doesn’t even have a landline.”

“Call the one with the smartphone,” Jisung decided.

“You think?” Minho said, pulling out his phone. “I think his Korean is ok but I’m going to have to start the conversation in Elvish,” Minho warned as the call started to connect. Jisung nodded eagerly and shuffled his chair closer so he could see the screen.

A handsome older man answered the call with a frown. The connection quality was startlingly good. Didn’t Minho’s family live in a forest? They must have a satellite tower or something to get clarity like that. The man on the call didn’t look too much like Minho in Jisung’s opinion but the full greying beard made it difficult to compare. Their noses were perhaps similar if he squinted but, despite his technological advances, Minho’s grandfather hadn’t mastered camera angles and their view wasn’t the best for comparisons.

“Minho?” The man asked and then the rest of what he said was lost on Jisung and no matter how much he concentrated the meaning of the words slipped out of his grasp. Minho replied in the same manner and they had a brief conversation. Jisung could infer enough from tone and the finger pointed at Minho through the screen that Minho was in trouble for something.

“-Is that ok?” Minho said suddenly in Korean.

“That shall be fine, Minho,” his grandfather replied gruffly. 

His voice tone was rich and he spoke slowly, nodding with every word as if he needed the momentum to keep going. Jisung wondered how old he was and for a startling second he thought he’d said that out loud as Minho’s grandfather mentioned his age. It was only a mention but Jisung decided to keep his thoughts quiet just in case. If this man had started witch-fae relations and been key in the creation of spells he was probably not a man to annoy.

“I am not so old as to forget what I once worked so hard to learn.” Minho’s grandfather was telling Minho grouchily. “The Internet is a wonderful place for testing my skills. You know, I have started learning this modern Japanese. Very useful, that language.”

“You should try English, Grandad.” Minho said. “A lot of the people on the internet use English.”

“English?” Minho’s grandfather said. “I do not like that language. They cannot decide how to write or say the words they have created. Now, _Korean_ ,-”

“Yes, Grandad.” Minho cut him off quickly. “We do actually have something we’d like to talk to you about.”

“We?” Minho’s grandfather said. He echoed what Minho said a lot. 

“Yes, we.” Minho said. He held the phone further away from his face and pulled Jisung closer. “This is Han Jisung, Grandad.” Minho said proudly. “He’s a witch and he’s really good at magic.”

Jisung widened his eyes and shook his head rapidly. “No, Sir. Minho-hyung is exaggerating. I’m still learning.”

They got a close up of Minho’s grandfather’s forehead as he looked closer at the image of them on his screen. “A witch, you say?”

“Yes, Grandad.” Minho said. “I told you I had moved to stay with other mystics. Jisung is one of my new friends. He only unlocked his core after I moved in and he’s already incredible at magic. He’s been trying to break The Curse in me with help from Seungminnie, an imp who also lives with us.”

“An imp? No, no, Minho. You shouldn’t be making friends with those ---” He said a word Jisung didn’t quite catch but he figured from the look of disgust that accompanied it that it was an unflattering name for the other Fae. “They are very tricky people, only trying to gain more for themselves. He will not be helping you in truth.”

“Seungminnie is good,” Minho assured him. “His father is an Elder and Seungminnie is constantly fighting him. He lied to his father to be able to live with us and give me access to the Fae Realm.”

“The Fae Realm?” Minho’s grandfather grumbled. “You are not to go there, Minho. Do you hear me? I will be telling your mother as well. You will have nothing but enemies there. It is no place for an elf to go. Our forest is very beautiful. If you want a forest you are to come back here. I will teach you about the trees and the fungi again. I’m sure you have forgotten with all that dancing in your head.”

“I have not forgotten about the trees _or_ the fungi, Grandad,” Minho said impatiently. “And I will go to the Fae Realm if I want to. Felix and Seungmin would keep me safe and I can protect myself.” 

“Protect yourself,” Minho’s grandfather grumbled. “You know nothing about war, boy. It is never a fair fight.”

“Grandad!” Minho said firmly. “This isn’t what I called about. I need to ask you about the Curse.”

“The Curse?” his grandfather scoffed. “And you say you don’t want to talk about the war! You might as well say you want to talk about trees but not about the forest-”

“He’ll go on like this for days,” Minho whispered subtly into Jisung’s ear as his grandfather rambled on. “You have to distract him. He’ll have to be nice to you.”

“I can’t do that!” Jisung hissed back as he nodded along to Minho’s grandfather’s rant. “I have to make a good impression!”

“Terra, you are useless,” Minho muttered before plastering on a terrifyingly fake smile.

“Grandad, do you think you could tell Jisungie about the witches you knew?” he said brightly, interrupting his grandfather so suddenly the old man buffered.

“Wisung about the jitches?”

Jisung bit his lip to stop his nervous laughter bubbling out. 

“Jisung about the witches,” Minho corrected smoothly, gripping Jisung’s leg under the table in warning.

“That’s what I said!” Minho’s grandfather argued. Jisung was never going to hold it together to the end of this call. Thankfully, Minho’s grandfather didn’t seem to notice his failing attention and plowed on. “Well, you know when I was a boy the witches like you couldn’t do much more than destroy things with their magic,” he told Jisung.

“I’m quite good at that too, sir,” Jisung said timidly.

“I bet you are.” Minho’s grandfather tipped back his head to laugh. “You must be, what- forty, fifty? It took my friend Jungsoon nearly fifteen years of his time to stop making holes in his walls. Come to think of it, his Gate was really just a hole in a different kind of wall…”

“Jisungie is nineteen, Grandad.” Minho told him. “I taught him to skinsing the night after he unlocked his core and he managed it twice that same night.”

They got a close view of Minho’s grandfather’s forehead again. “In the same night? That takes a great deal of power.” 

“I was really worried about my friends,” Jisung said defensively. “I can’t do that normally!”

“He most definitely can do that normally,” Minho contradicted him. “Grandad, Jisungie tried to break the Curse earlier this week and he deaged me until I was like a little kid again. Like when I fell off the roof.” Jisung wanted to hear _that_ story. “A Noona we spoke to said no other witch has done that _ever._ Jisungie could definitely lift the Curse. You just have to tell him how to do it.”

“How to do it!” Minho’s grandfather crowed. “Boy, that curse was made not to be lifted- the Elders made sure of that. You’d need-” He broke off with a gasp and then nodded to himself. “That Seungbin boy you spoke about- are you sure he’s related to an Elder? An old one, none of these new powers.”

“Seungminnie’s Dad is an elder,” Jisung piped up. “I’ve not seen him but Seungmin says he’s very powerful. He lives in a house with resin windows- Felix says that’s very unusual.” 

“ _HIM!?”_ Minho’s grandfather exclaimed. He looked furious and Jisung subconsciously backed away from the phone. “Oh he’s one of the original bastards all right. Sealed the Curse with his very own blood, he did. Didn’t want any knowledge from our world getting out. That wouldn’t serve him at all!”

“Grandad,” Minho interjected meekly. “So can we use Seungminnie’s blood to break the Curse?”

“To break the Curse? If it can be broken, that blood would do it. They had five witches at a time on us though, Minho. You boys best be careful while you are messing with that magic. You know the circumstances the witches were under.” He looked meaningfully at both of them. Jisung didn’t really want to think about the suffering of ancestors he didn’t know. He was afraid of empathising too strongly and really fucking shit up.

“Yes,” Minho said quietly for both of them. “We spoke about it.”

“I’m not blaming them, Jisung,” Minho’s grandfather said gently. “Had we known how our people would retaliate we never would have put the witches at risk like that. But when your family is threatened you find hidden strengths to fight for them and so the Curse in Minho will be as strong as the day it was put on me. As powerful as you may be, that is not something that can be easily broken without similar desperation. It is senseless to throw your lives at a spell that has already ruined so many.”

“I want to try,” Jisung said quietly. And then again, louder. “I want to try. I know my magic is powerful and I think I was close last time.”

“Close? You might have been,” Minho’s grandfather mused. “I’ll tell you everything I can remember then. It is about time we showed that bastard he’s not king of the world.”

“Oh! Seungminnie already did that,” Minho laughed. We’ll tell you after.”


	49. You must have smelled too ugly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jisung really meets the family this chapter

They finished their planning for the curse break before lunch and then conversation moved on to Seungmin and his crazy lies. Minho’s grandad had been particularly impressed with that and Minho had had to promise to call again soon when Seungmin was home so the imp could get properly grilled on his childhood. Jisung didn’t envy him that. 

Then Minho’s grandmother came into the call as well, and then his mum and his cat. And his other cat. And his third cat. Minho made some very strange noises at them and Jisung felt he went up a rung on the future boyfriend standing as he correctly identified Soonie from Doongie. Minho’s mum had certainly been surprised at his knowledge.

“Minho-hyung shows me a lot of pictures,” Jisung explained to her. “I’m really badly allergic to cats so he can’t get one here so I have to make up for my crimes with enthusiasm.”

“Are you _pretending_ to like Soonie, Doongie and Dori?” Minho asked sharply, narrowing his eyes at Jisung.

“No! Terra, Hyung. Do you really think I could pretend for three hours straight?” Jisung mollified him. To be honest, Jisung didn’t actually care about the cats all that much. They were cute but after ten minutes he’d seen enough. He watched all the videos and commented on all the photos because of the way Minho lit up when he talked about them. Jisung could watch _that_ all day. 

“Minho, are you torturing this poor boy?” his mum scolded him through the screen. “You can’t _make_ other people become as obsessed with cats as you are.”

“I can try,” Minho muttered and Jisung laughed out loud before he could stop himself.

“It’s fine,” he assured Minho’s mum. “I do like cats too. I just can’t have one as a pet.”

Jisung hadn’t even realised how much time had passed until Chan and Woojin came upstairs for lunch. They introduced themselves too and Jisung used the distraction to subtly hide his sketches under the guise of clearing the table. Chan then started dazzling Minho’s relatives with his Elvish and Woojin pulled Jisung away to help him with making lunch. Jisung only got the chance to wave goodbye over Minho’s head before he had to leave. Seeing how excited they were that Chan spoke their language hardened his resolve to learn Elvish too. He spoke Korean and enough Fae- if Felix was to believed Elvish wouldn’t be too difficult with that foundation. He’d just have to convince Minho to teach him.

***

“You should teach me Elvish,” Jisung told Minho when they were left alone to clean the dishes after lunch.

“Why?” Minho wrinkled his nose. “Almost everyone who speaks Elvish also speaks Korean.”

“Because it’s your culture,” Jisung pressed. He’d gotten the worse job of cleaning up the leftovers and stacking the plates ready to be cleaned but at least he was nearly done now and he could grill Minho as he worked. 

“It’s a dumb language,” Minho replied. “Not Korean and not Fae. Break the Curse instead and then you can help me learn Fae. That’s going to be more useful in this house.”

“But we could have a secret language,” Jisung exclaimed. 

Minho slowly turned his face to stare at Jisung judgmentally. “Have you forgotten that Channie-hyung also speaks Elvish. And Felix and Minnie can understand it without even trying.”

“I could teach you Malay?” Jisung offered. “Actually, scrap that- I don’t remember very much Malay.”

“Or, wild thought,” Minho said as he put another plate on the drainer, “we could speak in Korean.”

“That’s boring,” Jisung complained. “Even Felix speaks Korean now. Teach me Elvish.”

“Fine,” Minho sighed. He flicked dirty water at Jisung. “I’m not going to go easy on you.”

***

Minho had fried Jisung’s brain. He didn’t even know Korean anymore. What were words? The sound that just came out of Minho’s mouth certainly wasn’t a word. It had been all vowels and no consonants- a moan really, more than a word.

“No,” Jisung said when Minho encouraged him to repeat the sound. “That’s not a word.” 

“Correct. It’s two words,” Minho said. He made the moaning sound again and then smirked. “Go on.”

Jisung’s seconds refusal was cut off by a body barrelling into the back of his chair. “ _Felix! You have to hear about these fucki-_ You’re not Felix.” Seungmin made the astute observation, pulling back.

“No, I’m not,” Jisung replied, disgruntled that such a mistake had even been made in the first place.

“You have orange hair,” Seungmin excused himself. “I thought you were Felix.”

“It’s not even the same shade!” Jisung exclaimed. 

Seungmin shrugged. “You always have blue hair. I forgot. Is Felix home?”

“He’s still out with Binnie,” Minho informed him. “Why, is there gossip?”

“Not really,” Seungmin said, slipping into the seat next to Jisung. “It was more of a rant.”

“You’re not supposed to come back from a date with a rant, Minnie,” Minho said with a frown. “What went wrong?”

Seungmin glanced back at the stairs where they could hear Hyunjin and Jeongin bickering. “It was fine,” he said quickly. “What have you guys been doing?”

“Same thing we do every day, Seungminnie,” Jisung said grandly. “Try to take over the world!! Haha, no. We were working out how to break the Curse. Minho-hyung’s grandfather was helping us with some details.”

“Oooh,” Seungmin said eagerly. “Show me, show me.”

“Hi,” Hyunjin said quietly from the top of the stairs. Behind him Jeongin pulled a weird smile. Jisung didn’t know what had gone on with them so he figured it was best to act as if everything was fine.

“Hey. Have fun?” Jisung said cheerily. 

“It was ok,” Hyunjin said mildly and went through to the kitchen to get a drink. Jisung could hear the clattering of plates as he tried to extract a glass from Minho’s badly stacked drainer of dishes. “We weren't attacked by any vampires though!” he called back through. 

“Success!” Minho called back. “You must have smelled too ugly.”

“Hey!” Hyunjin cried. “I smell great.”

“He does,” Jeongin agreed. “I’m going to go shift,” he announced and swung through the doorway to his room.

“Come back for cuddles!” Jisung called after him. Jeongin wouldn’t but it was worth a shot.

“What ya doing?” Hyunjin asked, putting down his glass of juice on the table and leaning over Seungmin to see Jisung’s notes. “Looks like a bomb.”

“Use a coaster, Hyunjin,” Seungmin said tetchily, moving Hyunjin’s drink off the wood.

“Sorry,” Hyunjin mumbled and leaned away from Seungmin’s space. Seungmin caught his arm before he fully moved away and pulled him back again. Hyunjin was tensed awkwardly now though. “I’ll go start my homework,” Hyunjin said and it sounded like an apology. He squeezed Seungmin’s hand before pulling away again and this time Seungmin let him leave. Jisung had no idea what was going on but he knew it was best to stay quiet in these situations. 

“I’ll help later,” Seungmin offered without looking up.

“You’re the best, Minnie,” Hyunjin said brightly and practically skipped out of the room. 

“He forgot his juice,” Seungmin sighed as the room settled into an awkward silence, straightening the glass on it’s coaster. 

“Are you sure you’re ok, Minnie?” Minho asked in concern. “Did you guys fall out?” 

“It’s fine.” Seungmin said reluctantly. “I was too stressed about school to have fun and I ruined the mood.”

“You won’t want to break the Curse tonight then?” Jisung asked hesitantly. It wasn’t really the time to ask but he’d been so excited to try their new method after spending all morning working it out.

Seungmin worried his lip. “Can we do it tomorrow? I should be finished by tonight.”

“Of course,” Minho said. “Don’t rush. Sungie could do with another night to recharge anyway.”

“I’ll be finished by tomorrow night definitely,” Seungmin said determinedly. “Show me your plans first though. Where’s the one Hyunjinnie said looked like a bomb?”

“That was actually Minho-hyung’s soul,” Jisung started. “I don’t know how he couldn’t see it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully its just one chapter left now and you can guess what that's going to be. should be up tomorrow night but if its not that just means im socialising with my parents and you'll get it the day after. 
> 
> After this fic I'm finishing Father's Day and then you get the Angst fic (Im thinking of calling it 'You Have One New Follower' but idk) that should be out by the end of the month and then we're back on votes so have a think now about what you want next bc I'll be taking votes in the comments of the final chapter of this


	50. I'm not delicate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isnt the end because well.. you'll see

Changbin and Felix made it home _just_ before dinner and Changbin couldn’t keep the smile of his face as he sat down.

‘Good?’ Jisung mouthed to him from across the table and Changbin nodded enthusiastically. Jisung was pretty sure he was still holding Felix’s hand. Maybe he’d tell Changbin later about what Minho revealed to him or maybe he’d keep it a secret. It felt a little embarrassing to admit that Minho wouldn’t date him because he was too young when Changbin had been damn near fully committed to Felix the day he laid eyes on him.

Legally, Jisung was the fourth youngest in the room but it didn’t feel like it when he looked around the table. It felt like he was being left behind despite being the first kid taken under Chan’s wing. Not only was he the only one single but he was also the only one that was a hazard to himself and those around him. Felix might as well be the third partner of 3RACHA since he contributed far more to the shop than Jisung did. Jisung probably destroyed more than he created.

Minho noticed when Jisung stopped eating because of course he did. He didn’t make a big deal about it but he didn’t let Jisung away with the smaller portion either. Terra, now Jisung couldn’t even feed himself either. He truly was pathetic.

“I’m going to go to bed early,” Jisung announced before he could shatter another lightbulb to illuminate his internal struggle for all to see. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at him and Chan swallowed a whole mouthful of food without chewing. That couldn’t be good for him.

“Are you having issues with your magic?” Woojin asked in concern. “Do you have a spell running again?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not running a spell,” Jisung assured him. “I’m just tired.”

“Ok, sleep well,” Woojin said with a worried frown.

“Goodnight, Sungie,” echoed around the table.

“Night,” Jisung mumbled as he made his escape. Great, now he was even sleeping early like a little kid.

***

Jisung didn’t wake up the next day in a better mood and his magic was back to full capacity so he was even more liable to cause explosions. Great. He got up before he set fire to his bedsheets and stomped through to the kitchen.

“What can I set fire to in a useful way?” he asked Woojin without preamble.

“Good morning to you too,” Woojin replied. “Is everyone waking up delicate today?”

“I’m not delicate,” Jisung growled. “I’m a barely contained explosion.”

“Sure you are, darling,” Woojin said, guiding him to a stool. “I’ll let you make a bonfire in the garden later if you eat all your breakfast.”

Seungmin looked up from his own breakfast as Jisung sat down. There were dark circles under his eyes.

“What happened to you?” Jisung asked him. Beside Seungmin Jeongin was dozing in his seat, head pillowed in his arms.

“It rained,” Seungmin grunted. “All night.”

“Ah,” Jisung said. “Is Jinnie-”

“He’s asleep,” Seungmin said.

“And Innie?” Jisung asked, his tone open enough that Woojin or Jeongin himself could answer if he was awake.

“He slept upstairs,” Woojin said when nobody else answered, providing Jisung with food and coffee and taking the last seat.

“Jinnie panicking made him panic too but he wouldn’t go back downstairs,” Seungmin said.

“I was fine,” Jeongin mumbled, turning his head to look at Seungmin. “And I wasn’t just going to leave you with Hyunjinnie-hyung by yourself. That would be a shit thing to do.”

“Language,” Woojin said.

“ _Bite me,”_ Jeongin retorted and tucked his face back into the darkness of his arms again.

***

Jisung didn’t get to set fire to anything but his mood slowly improved over the day. Felix had a good deal to do with that by sneaking Jisung new and exciting chocolates from his stash. Jisung needed more friends like Felix. He would, however, grudgingly admit that the rest of his family had also lifted his mood but the chocolate had put Felix in the lead.

***

“Curse break?” Seungmin asked eagerly when Chan, Woojin and Minho went out for a run. Jisung personally thought running was abhorrent but when Minho had suggested it as a way to get his fitness back up both hyungs had been delighted with the idea. So now they were out running. For fun.

“We’re kind of missing a key component,” Jisung replied.

“ _Obviously,_ when Hyung gets back,” Seungmin said. “But if you're trying to do this without Channie-hyung finding out you should get everything ready while he’s gone.”

“We should probably tell Channie-hyung,” Jisung admitted. “What with all the nearly dying we’ve been doing.”

“ _You’ve_ been doing,” Seungmin corrected him. “ _I’ve_ been fine.”

“There’s always this time,” Jisung joked.

“Or nobody could have any brushes with death,” Jeongin interjected. “Just a thought.”

“Says the bear cub,” Jisung scoffed and Jeongin’s eyes lit up. Ohh, Jisung was going to regret this.

“Channie-hyung and Woojinnie-hyung are gone- I can be a bear!” Jeongin crowed and started to strip right there in the living room.

“Never mind, Sung,” Seungmin said, shuffling closer to Jisung as he distanced himself from Jeongin. “I won’t be available for the curse break. I’m about to get mauled by a bear.”

“I’m not going to _maul_ you,” Jeongin huffed. “This is my territory. I’ll be fine.” And with no further warning he shifted.

Bears were fucking BIG.

“Nice Innie,” Jisung said shakily, holding up his hands as Jeongin swung his heavy head to sniff in his direction. Jeongin swung his head in the other direction and huffed out a puff of hot air in Seungmin’s face before lopping out of the room.

“Innie!” Seungmin called after him. “You’ll scare someone!”

From the corridor there was a gasp.

“Cute!” Felix exclaimed and by the time Seungmin and Jisung had scrambled to the door Felix his hands in Jeongin’s fur, cooing as he gave Jeongin scratches behind his ears.

“What’s this?” Felix asked in interest as Seungmin froze at the sight of them.

“Innie,” Seungmin replied shortly. “You maybe shouldn’t touch him.”

“Why?” Felix asked, not even keeping his eyes on the bear. “What animal is it?”

“A bear,” Jisung said. “They can eat people,” he added since Felix seemed to be unaware of the giant teeth inches from his arms, face, and general internal organs.

“Innie won’t eat us,” Felix cooed. “Would you, Innie?” Jeongin lifted one massive paw and, in a slow and calculated movement, pushed Felix over.

“Innie!” Seungmin admonished him. “That wasn’t nice!” Jeongin stepped over Felix and ambled to the kitchen.

“Oh shit,” Jisung said as he watched the bear stand on its hind legs and open the kitchen door with its forepaw. “Oh shit.”

“Innie!” Seungmin called again. “You are not allowed to eat anything!”

Jeongin looked back at them and grunted. If he wanted to eat everything in the fridge Jisung certainly wasn’t going to stop him. Jeongin opened the fridge. Felix, Seungmin and Jisung warily shuffled closer. Jeongin’s actions were remarkably human-like as he browsed through their food. He tried to take the orange juice out of the door but his paws were too big. Instead of just slashing it open as Jisung envisaged he turned back to his audience and grunted again.

“Do you want juice?” Felix asked. Jeongin nodded.

“Unbelievable,” Seungmin muttered and stepped forward. Jisung didn’t know if he was brave or stupid. “Open your mouth, then,” Seungmin said as he unscrewed the lid. Jeongin dropped back onto all fours and tipped back his head. Seungmin poured a stream into his mouth. “Is that everything?” Seungmin said. “Are you going to shift back now?”

Jeongin rose back onto his hind legs and Seungmin took a hasty step back. Jeongin searched through the shelves of the fridge, sniffing as he went and eventually found what he wanted.

“The strawberries?” Seungmin asked.

“Oh _fuck_ no!” Jisung said. “We only have one punnet left!” Jeongin took his head out of the fridge and drew himself to his full height. It was pretty fucking tall. “You know what,” Jisung said lightly. “Eat as many as you want.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, hopefully tomorrow i can finish this


	51. Jeongin bullied us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> none of this way on my plan when i posted the last chapter but then a comment gave me an idea and then I realised I could do Parallels and I fucking _love_ parallels so that had to happen and then i thought too hard about strawberries cos im on quarantine and i cant get any until sunday. now i really want strawberries
> 
> so yeah enjoy a bonus chapter. we're not done yet

Jeongin was halfway through the punnet when the back door slammed shut downstairs.

“That was a fast run,” Felix commented as Jeongin scrambled to get his head out of the fridge. He overbalanced and landed on his ass with a loud thud.

“What happened?” Chan asked worriedly, appearing at the top of the stairs. 

Jisung pointed into the kitchen. “Jeongin bullied us.”

Chan peered into the kitchen where Jeongin was frozen as if he could blend into the black tiles. “Yang Jeongin!” Chan scolded. “Your bear form was explicitly forbidden.”

“He ate all the strawberries,” Jisung added fuel to the fire. He really liked those strawberries.

Chan gasped in horror. “All of them?”

“There’s some left,” Seungmin said, holding up the punnet. Their supplies were significantly depleted. Chan whined in the back of his throat.

“What is it?” Woojin asked. He and Minho had come up the stairs at a normal pace. Minho dramatically collapsed onto Jisung.

“You stole my fucking legs,” he mumbled into Jisung’s chest. Jisung patted his sweaty hair and lowered Minho onto a chair. Minho folded over and leaned his forehead on Jisung’s thigh. His breathing was laboured but steady so hopefully he’d just pushed himself too hard. Chan and Woojin didn’t seemed too concerned about him anyway. 

Woojin had joined Chan in the doorway to the kitchen so now Jisung’s view of Jeongin was blocked.

“Jeongin ate all the strawberries,” Chan told Woojin.

“And he turned into a bear,” Woojin noted. 

“Yeah, that too,” Chan agreed. Jisung had a feeling Chan cared less about that offence.

“I suggest you shift back,” Woojin said to Jeongin. Jisung braced for the horrible sound of shifting but it never came. “You’re staying there until you do,” Woojin said. “I can stand here all day.” Jisung didn’t know if it was Dad powers or Werewolf powers that made Woojin so unafraid. He suspected it was a combination of both.

“Maybe he’s stuck,” Seungmin suggested from the kitchen where he was trapped with his deadly boyfriend.

“Sure he is,” Chan said sarcastically.

Jeongin whined from the floor.

“He’s actually stuck,” Woojin sighed. “Brilliant, Jeongin. Maybe you’ll listen to us next time, huh?”

Seungmin was ushered out of the kitchen and Woojin sat down next to the bear. Chan took the remaining strawberries and shut the kitchen door.

“Do you want a strawberry, Min?” Chan asked, popping one into his mouth and chewing with a blissful smile. Minho turned his head and opened his mouth. Chan carefully picked out a nice one and fed it to him. Jisung opened his mouth too but he was ignored. 

“Everyone take one,” Chan said, holding out the punnet. “Then I’ll go down and give Jinnie and Binnie one.” Jisung reached out with laser focus. Some were slightly squishy from Joengin’s claws and if Jisung was only getting one he wanted a good one. The one he ended up with was on the smaller side but it was perfect. He ate it in a single bite and savoured the taste. Who knows when Felix would be able to get them more.

***

“Channie-hyung, we’re going to try again to break the curse today,” Jisung said when Chan returned with a single strawberry. Minho had recovered his breath and sat up and Jisung had done a quick run-through of his body with magic and found no issues. Minho was just tired, not deteriorating, and that would be key in convincing Chan to let them make another attempt.

Chan put the strawberry punnet down on the table. “That’s for Woojinnie,” he said seriously, pointing at the remaining strawberry. “Nobody touch it.”

Seungmin made eye contact with Chan and slowly reached out one finger towards the strawberry. Chan moved it further away from him.

“I wasn’t going to eat it,” Seungmin said.

“No. Touching,” Chan repeated himself. He turned to Jisung. “What’s your plan this time then?” he asked. “Have you worked out where you went wrong last time.”

“Live blood,” Jisung replied. “Minho’s grandfather said Seungmin’s Dad’s blood was being dripped directly onto his chest as the spell was happening. So it still had his life force attached to it or something?”

Chan pulled a face. “There had to be a better way to do that.”

“Maybe,” Jisung said. “But if we’re reverse engineering this I need Seungmin to bleed on Minho.”

“Sure,” Chan allowed reluctantly. “Can you do it somewhere you won’t spill blood everywhere?”

“Bathroom?” Minho suggested. “I’m taking a shower first though.” And with that he got up and wandered out the room.

“Me and Binnie hyung bought energy juice when we were out!” Felix piped up. “Do you want some?”

“Please,” Jisung said. They’d thought about him when they were out on their date? Jisung felt an overwhelming rush of love for his family and he had to hold his breath to keep it together. 

“There’s a glucogen kit already in the bathroom too,” Chan told Seungmin since if Jisung needed it he wouldn’t be able to get it himself. “Left hand cupboard.”

Seungmin nodded. “I know where. Same place as the plasters.”

“Yeah.” Chan said. “If you’re going to be bleeding a lot I’ll go downstairs but Woojin can be just outside and you can yell on me if you need me.”

“Isn’t Woojinnie-hyung a little busy right now?” Felix said and pointed to the closed kitchen door.

“Ah.” Chan reached for the door and then changed his mind and pulled his hand back. He turned to Jisung. “You’re going to have to wait until Jinnie is done with Jeongin.”

“What’s he going to do?” Felix asked curiously. “Is he going to turn into a wolf?” Felix loved Wolf Woojin. Now Jisung thought about it, Felix just loved animals. The fluffier, the better it seemed.

“Nah, he’s just talking to him,” Chan said, tilting his head as he listened in. “Innie needs less distractions to shift if it’s a new form.” As he said that the horrible sounds of shifting started in the kitchen. Chan winced, hearing it far louder than the rest of them did but the sound stopped almost as soon as it started. 

Woojin opened the door and was followed out by a sheepish Jeongin. Chan passed Woojin his precious strawberry. “That’s your reward,” Chan said. “Next you’re on Curse backup.”

“What?” Woojin asked, biting into his strawberry.

Jisung wiggled his fingers at him. “Be gay, do crime.”

Woojin frowned, missing the reference entirely. “But I am gay? And I have a criminal record already?”

“Just watch them, babe,” Chan sighed. “I’m going downstairs because Seungmin is a blood sacrifice.”

“You’re killing Seungmin?” Woojin asked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no i dont know what happened at the end. ignore it. i'll get to the curse break tomorrow


	52. The weirdest team huddle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the moment is finally here

“Right,” Seungmin said. He was standing in a corner of the bathroom with the scalpel Changbin had loaned him clutched in one hand. He stared down at Minho who had helpfully already laid himself diagonally across the floor, bare chested. Less helpfully, he was lying on one side with his chin propped on one hand and one leg bent at the knee as if he was modelling. He winked coquettishly at Jisung.

“Really, Hyung?” Jisung said exasperatedly. “Now is not the time.”

“It’s always the time to look hot,” Minho replied.

“We can see your ribs, Hyung” Jisung pointed out. “It’s not hot. It’s concerning.”

“Well I had a six pack before,” Minho said. He slapped his stomach and it made a hollow sound as if he was missing something vital. “Not my fault it’s gone.”

“Maybe we should do this another time,” Seungmin interrupted their bickering. “When Minho-hyung is more alive.”

“I’m perfectly alive,” Minho argued. He lay on his back and lifted his hands towards Seungmin. “Water me with the blood of my enemies, Minnie!”

Seungmin looked even less sure. “Hyung…”

“I’m going to be fine, Seungminnie,” Minho assured him and sat up with difficulty (Jisung had really done a number on his muscle strength). He beckoned Seungmin down to his level and Jisung crouched as well. “We spoke to my grandad about it and Jisung has a much better idea of what to do this time. This isn’t like the last time. It’s a much smaller change Sungie is trying to make.”

“And if it starts going wrong I can stop,” Jisung added. “I’ll not be going through our soulbond so if I don’t reply just pull my hand away. Hyung will keep his eyes open too this time. You’re not doing this alone.” It was calming to go through their plan with Seungmin. They’d learnt a lot from their previous mistakes and this attempt was going to be as safe as possible.

“I’m still scared,” Seungmin admitted quietly. “What if it goes wrong too fast for me to stop?”

“It won’t,” Jisung said. “I’ll be really careful.”

“Ok,” Seungmin allowed. He looked down at the scalpel in his hand. “Where do I even cut?” 

“Here.” Minho ran a finger down the fleshy part of Seungmin’s palm just below his thumb. “That won’t damage any tendons. Do you need me to do it?”

“Please.” Seungmin passed over the scalpel as if it was burning hot. 

“Ok,” Minho said, gently taking Seungmin’s hand. “Don’t move.” He made a shallow cut and then squeezed the edges of skin together. Pale blood beaded in the cut. “Keep your hand lower than your heart,” Minho instructed him. “So it bleeds more.”

Seungmin examined his hand curiously. “Is that deep enough?” 

“It’ll be fine,” Jisung said quickly. He really didn’t want Seungmin injured any more than he had to be for this to work. “Hyung, lie down.”

Seungmin made a fist and clenched his hand a few times until he’d made a little puddle of blood in the dip of Minho’s sternum. 

“This is disgusting,” Minho said delightedly and linked his fingers behind his head, staring up at the ceiling as so to keep his chest level. “Why was this your father’s first idea when he got mad that someone shared his secrets?”

“Dunno,” Seungmin replied. “His methods are pretty psychotic in general.”

“We should take a picture,” Minho suggested. “Recreating history and changing history and all that.”

“No.” Jisung quickly vetoed that idea. “No evidence. This looks like a _murder_ , Minho-hyung.”

“ _Exactly,”_ Minho replied. “It’d be cool.”

“I’m with Jisung,” Seungmin said. He pulled his hand back. “That should be enough blood, right?” 

“I think so,” Jisung reckoned. “Put your hand in it.”

“Ew.” Seungmin looked at him in disgust. “No.”

“It’s _your_ blood,” Jisung argued. “And we need the blood to be connected to you.”

Seungmin gingerly laid his hand across Minho’s chest. “I hate this attempt more than the other attempts,” he said vehemently.

“Deal with it, bitch baby,” Jisung told him, slapping his own hand down on top of Seungmin’s. “Your part is done.”

“This is the weirdest team huddle I’ve ever been a part of,” Minho commented.

“Shut up, Minho-hyung,” Jisung said tensely. “I need to concentrate.”

“You can do this, Sungie,” Minho whispered encouragingly.

“Scream if you’re in pain this time,” Jisung ordered him and closed his eyes.

First he had to find Seungmin’s blood. It was right there but Minho’s blood was also very close, just under his skin, and Jisung’s magic wanted to go there instead. _Not today,_ he told his magic crossly. Their plan seemed to be working because once he moved his magic into Seungmin’s blood he could follow it right back into his body with ease. That was promising. Now he just had to match Seungmin’s blood to the blood like it that was sealing Minho’s curse and use one to erase the other. Easy.

Keeping focus on Seungmin’s blood and Minho’s soul at the same time was fiendishly difficult and Jisung swore as he lost ‘sight’ of one of them once again.

 _“You can do it, Sungie,”_ Seungmin whispered in Fae. “ _Keep trying.”_

 _“I am,”_ Jisung said exasperatedly and opened his eyes. His knees hurt from kneeling on the hard floor. “ _It’s not working.”_

“Stop having secret conversations or I’ll think something has gone wrong,” Minho called loudly.

“Nothing has gone wrong,” Jisung told him. He took a break and popped the cap off of one of the energy drinks to take a swig. He couldn’t drag this out much longer with Seungmin still bleeding from an open wound. He had to get that treated soon. “Nothing has gone right either though. I can’t focus on Seungmin and you at the same time to bring the two together.”

“Just focus on Minnie’s blood then,” Minho suggested, twisting his head to look at Jisung. “You’ve been in my soul often enough, you should be able to find it ok.”

“Easy for you to say,” Jisung scoffed. “Blood is a physical thing. Your soul isn’t. Or at least not in the same way.” 

“Like the skin?” Seungmin guessed.

“Ish,” Jisung took another swig of the energy drink. “Ok, I’m going to try again.” 

“Fighting!” Minho pumped his fist in the air.

He was nearly as used to Seungmin as he was to Minho by this point. Their bodies were pretty similar as well which meant that when Jisung immediately got control of Seungmin’s blood he had to double check that it wasn’t Minho’s. It wasn’t. There wasn’t any of the Curse floating about in it. Maybe that’s what he could do? Try to get Minho’s body to reflect Seungmin’s? _No._ He had to stick to the plan. There were _way_ too many ways that could go wrong. He had to keep trying the way they had planned. He just needed more power to get Seungmin’s blood to Minho’s soul. He was going to have to get emotional.

Jisung thought about the story Minho had told him months ago of the horrors the witches had gone through at the mercy of the Elders. People just like Jisung. Kids just like Jisung taken away from their parents as ransom. Witches forced to turn on their friends to save their own family. And then he thought about what Minho’s grandfather had told them the day before. Being stripped of his culture, his home, his identity. It wasn’t right. What Seungmin’s dad had done wasn’t right. And what he was still trying to do to Seungmin wasn’t right either. He shouldn’t be allowed to bully anybody who disagreed with him. Jisung wasn’t going to allow it.

Jisung was fueled with anger and injustice now and he finally had Seungmin’s blood and Minho’s soul in the same place. He wasn’t even really sure how he’d done it but he wasn’t going to go back and do it again now. Something definitely matched as well. Perfect. Now just to remove Seungmin’s Dad’s crazy lock so the curse could be lifted. Jisung fed more magic to the spell as he used Seungmin’s blood to remove its counterpart. That bastard’s grubby influence could stay _the fuck_ away from Jisung’s family.

Suddenly, Jisung’s hand was yanked away from Minho’s chest. His heart clenched and he pulled all his magic back into his own body as quickly as he could, cutting the spell. What had he done this time? 

Jisung opened his eyes fearing the worst and immediately saw Seungmin sitting opposite him, blinking up at him in confusion as he leaned over Minho to keep his hand on the centre of Minho's chest. His t-shirt had slipped off of one shoulder and the hem of the sleeve that should reach midway down his bicep now went down to his wrist and was trailing in the blood. Jisung had thought Seungmin had been the one to pull his hand away but he now realised it must have been Minho because Seungmin's hands had shrunk with the rest of him and there was no way Seungmin would have been able to wrap his fingers all the way around Jisung's wrist, let alone force Jisung to move. 

“ _Fuck.”_ Jisung cursed. “Fucking _again?!?!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so you guys were wanting hyunjins origin after the Angst fic, right? Or has some peoples preferences changed?
> 
> (also please tell me what you thought of the fic in general. ive put a lot of effort into it, especially this week)


End file.
